Max Ride and A Great and Terrible Beauty
by Shatchi
Summary: What happens when the flock get thrown back in time and meet Gemma and Kartik? What if Max had been there to help Gemma.But to do so she needs to wear...a corset.Set after The Final Warning and during The Sweet Far Thing-end of it.Spoilers!Crossover, Fax.
1. Family, Leaders, Protecters

Crossover between Maximum Ride and A Great and Terrible Beauty

Max Pov

_BOOM!_ Oh no. Not again.

"Gazzy!"

"Iggy did it!" he shouted back, blue eyes wide.

My eyes narrowed and his innocence act faltered a bit until it collapsed completely.

"Sorry, Max" he muttered looking down.

"Uh huh, sure," He looked up at me and I smiled. Gazzy visibly relaxed and sighed a breath of relief. C'mon, you try being mad at an 8-year old when they look like that.

"What? You don't let me off that easy!" Iggy protested.

"You," I said stressing the word, "should know better."

"He does too!"

Gazzy cut in "It's just because I do a better sad face."

"Right, because I can _definitely_ see that," Iggy said sarcastically.

I guess I should explain. My name is Maximum Ride, a.k.a. Max and I lead our little gang. By the way no one calls me by my full name except the Voice in my head, who seems to enjoy formalities. Yes, I did say Voice in my head. What? You don't have one? You can get one with incredible brain smashing headaches included free of charge!

Anyway, I live with my family of mutant freaks. Fang, my second in command, but known by his many fangirls as Mr. tall, dark, handsome, and silent. He's 14, like Iggy and I.

Iggy, our blind (literally) pyro-maniac and partner in crime with Gazzy, with whom he builds bombs such as the one just set off. Iggy also happens to be the best cook among us. Just because I'm leader and 100 amazing at everything else, does not mean I can or will cook.

Nudge, eleven, is the motor mouth. She never stops talking. I'm seriously thinking about getting ADHD medicine to see if it helps any.

Gazzy, a younger version of Iggy, to put it basically. His full name is the Gasman. Don't even ask just stay upwind.

Finally, my baby, Angel. The most loving, adoring, understanding little 6-year old there ever was. Not to mention she reads minds. She and the Gasman are the only real sibling among us, they look it, too.

Now the million-dollar question: Why are 6 kids camped out in the middle of nowhere eating rabbit medium rare?

Answer: Because we're on the run from mad scientist who want to "terminate" or "retire" us. They're just mad we escaped 4 years ago, so they can't experiment on us anymore. And they never will, ever again, I will make sure of it.

Plus, we're on a mission to save the world! Again. Right now we are on our way to the coordinates given to us via voice.

"Calling all mutant freaks with wings to a dinner of roast rabbit!" called Iggy.

Oh, yeah. That's another thing, you know how I said my family of mutant freaks…we are. Awesome human-avian hybrid mutant freaks with the sweetest bunch of wings ever, but mutant freaks all the same.

All the sudden a stampede was surrounding me with various shouts of "Food!" "I'm soooo hungry, I could eat like, 5 whole elephants and still have a side of buffalo." And "Thank God!".

Fang and I had gone hunting earlier, so we al had a whole rabbit. When you gotta live, you gotta live.

The younger kids had their rabbits cooked first. The poor rabbits were gone so fast they couldn't have moved faster if they'd been alive.

"Oh great and glorious leader, I have your first class supper," Iggy said in a deep voice.

Fang and I walked up to the fire. We were still kids, but slightly more mature.

"Suck up," I said. Iggy smirked.

"What ever you say oh Max, master of all things except those that have to do with the great art of coo-" I punched him semi-lightly in the chest.

"Watch it," I said.

"Yes Max!"

Fang had already finished his food and was sitting with one leg folded side ways on the ground and the other foot flat on the ground, bent at the knee with his elbow resting on top of it.

When I looked over at him he just shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. I glared at him and then sat down a few feet away devouring my rabbit. I love being mannerless.

I watched the kids play for a while. We didn't have much, but we had us, and that's what matters. Angel turned around, away from the game, to look at me. She smiled and my heart glowed.

"Come play with us, Max," she said. Nudge stopped too.

"Yeah Max! Come play! That would be awesome! Please, please, please, please, please!" They gave me bambi eyes at the same time.

"Aww. No fair," I said.

"Yes!"

" Okay, okay, I'm in. But when I get you, you have to go to bed." I said sternly.

"Ha! You'll never catch me!" yelled Nudge.

I rolled my eyes and closed them counting to 10 in my head. Angel squealed and ran. Nudge and Gazzy got the hint and followed. On 10 I jumped up to hunt my prey.

I hoped they wouldn't go too far, but you never know. After about 5 minutes of searching I decided to cheat. Not too bad, just using certain smelling gifts. I walked around trying to catch one of their scents, like I had when Max II had replaced me, when I smelled a Nudge. I grinned evilly and went into a crouch. About 20 ft. and 30 seconds later, I pounced. Right on to an unsuspecting Nudge.

"Aw, I don't wanna go to sleep!" she pouted. I smiled sadly and shook my head.

"Back to camp. Sleep," I said pointing.

She turned and stalked off muttering something about age and practice and unfairness.

I whirled when I heard a small rustle. Scanning the bushes, I made my way towards the sound. I saw a flash of blond and froze. So did the blond. We stayed like that for a while waiting for the other to move.

Finally, the blondness tried to make a run for it. I pounded through the woods after it. 15 feet. 12 feet. 6 feet.

_CRASH!_

I had used my wings to propel me forward jumped and grabbed onto Angel refusing to let her go despite her struggling. She was already out of breath, and finally just bent over panting. I let her catch her breath before I let her up.

"Jeez, Max, you run too fast" she said still a little out of breath. I smiled gave her a small push toward the camp.

She turned back and leaped at me. I caught her and she gave me a big bear hug.

"G'night, Max!" she said holding onto me tightly.

"Night, sweetie. Sweet dreams." I kissed her forehead.

_BANG!_

He. Is. So. Dead. Angel giggled at my thought.

"Sorry sweetie, I have to go violently torture your brother," I growled. Angel grinned and ran off.

I charged after the sound of the bomb, and was nearly knocked over by the shock wave. I heard running moving toward the opposite direction. I bent down an pick up a good-sized rock, and threw it as hard as I could. It landed somewhere in front of the running.

I heard sliding and running again, but this time coming toward me. I slid behind a tree.

5…4…3…2…1-

"Gotcha!"

"Ah!" Gazzy gave a startled shout for running right in to my arms. He kicked my shin as a knee jerk reaction for being grabbed, and, not expecting it, I hissed in pain. He looked at me, blue eyes wide with awe, "Sorry, Max," Then it hit him, "You can teleport!"

I laughed "No, but I can throw rocks." He looked down, a little disappointed.

I gripped him a bit tighter and her looked back up at me. "You do know that no sad face is going to get you out of that little trick you played back there, right?"

His face turned to horror as I began to mercilessly tickle him to the ground.

"Okay! Ok-" he chocked a bit, so I let up a little. "Stop, please!"

"Bombs?" I asked.

"No more bombs. Bombs won-" he was consumed by laughter once again, "Bombs won't...blow up!"

I stopped and raised an eyebrow "How about bombs won't make an appearance?"

"Fine! Bombs won't come out of my backpack or Iggy's unless I am being attacked by cretins! Can I get up now? Please?" I kept him down a bit longer just to make sure the real threat got in through the playing.

We got up and Gazzy yawned.

"Alright, let's get you to bed," I said pulling him with me. He began to lean on me a bit more and by the time we got back to camp-it was much farther than I thought- I was carrying him and he was asleep I my arms. I would have flown but this way his weight was somewhat put on the ground, instead of entirely on me.

I saw Angel curled up next to Nudge with Total's head resting on her neck fitting his body to hers. Akila was in between the heads of Nudge and Angel. Iggy was asleep against a tree. Fang was awake keeping watch. His eyes followed me as I laid down Gazzy beside Angel and Total. Then I went over to match Fang's alert poster leaning against a tree beside him.

I closed my eyes and remembered chasing after the kids. "Do you want me to take watch?" I asked.

"I got it," he said. "You should get some sleep."

"I should." He looked over at me and raised an eyebrow asking what was wrong. I sighed, "Just the voice, and if Itex is back and that we're on the run _again_, and…you know, stuff."

He nodded an turned forward again, but looked back when I yawned. He reached out and put his arm around my shoulders, lightly pushing my head on his shoulder. I stiffened a little, but stayed. I did want to stay awake though, just a bit longer to make sure the kids were really settled and okay.

"You worry about them too much. Sleep." Fang was doing that thing where he knew me too well.

I rolled my eyes and gave in. I really was tired. As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered if it would always be like this. I knew we could never live normally, but if we would always be on the run. My last thought was that my head was still on Fang's shoulder and his arm was still around me.

Fang/3rd POV

Fang knew Max was asleep when he saw her muscles relax and felt her full weight on him. He smiled, glad that no one could see him. Max was strong for the kids, he was strong for Max. Even though he didn't show it, he was almost giddy every time he thought about the fact that Max belonged to him in a way she never would to anyone else.

Sometimes Fang would worry that she wouldn't ever stop being stubborn, or that she only belonged to him because they had known each other their whole lives, or if he had misread the signs out of hope. But moments like this gave him back his hope in full, maybe slightly overconfident blasts.

Max shifted and Fang automatically tightened his arm around her. It was cold out, but the body heat coming from Max kept Fang's entire body warm and slightly tingly.

Fang gently put his face in Max's hair and closed his eyes breathing in her smell. Better than chocolate chip cookies. Sort of woodsy, not surprising considering their normal sleeping conditions.

Fang listened to the world; birds were rustling in mostly. That and the flock's breathing. He pulled his head back resting it against the tree. He would watch a member of the flock for a while, do a 360 making sure not to wake up Max , and watch another, listening all the while. Taking care of his family and the most beautiful girl in the world.

* * *

A/N: I know nothing much happened in this chapter, but bear with me. I know what I'm doing and I should have the second chapter up soon. Please tell me if Fang was too OOC or if the chapters should be shorter. Also, I plan to move kinda slow, it will speed up a ton, trust me, but still slowish. So tell me if I should go faster. And tell me if I should have more Fang POV's. I like them, but I'm not sure if I write them too well. He won't always be like this by the way. Not all of his thoughts are about Max, she's just his first priority. Thank you so, so, so much.

P.S. Gemma will be in next chapter!


	2. A Where?

A/N: Please feel free to go to youtube and look up the songs. I tried to make it so you could listen and read. The first song is Me against the world by Simple Plan. The next one is Promise also by Simple Plan.

Disclaimer: I am James Patterson. I am Libba Bray. I am Simple Plan. I also own a T.A.R.D.I.S., and like to study you funny humans like the vulcan with green blood that I am.

**Chapter 2**

Max POV

I woke up the next morning with my head still on Fang's shoulder. And it was daytime. And no one else was up, which meant he had stayed on watch _all_ night. Was he crazy?

He looked down at me when I woke up.

I pulled away and glared at him, "You took watch all night?"

He looked away and shrugged. "You seemed comfy."

"So you decided that my comfort was more important than getting enough sleep to keep going through the day? You do realize that the coordinates are still about 8 hours away, don't you?"

He frowned "8 hours? What direction?"

Now _I_ frowned. "North. Slightly east. Why?"

He looked at me. "Just tell me we're not getting make-overs this time."

"New York," I said, it finally dawning on me.

"New York," he repeated.

"New York!" someone shouted suddenly. It was Angel.

"Yes, I think we've established that," said Iggy groggily from where he was lying on the ground.

"Can we go to the toy store again? Pleeeease, Max?" Angel said with wide eyes.

I looked at her apologetically. "I don't we'll be able to. The voice seemed in a bit of a hurry." Her face fell. "But if we have time afterward we'll see if we can. And if we have room." Her face lit up again. How much could a stuffed animal weigh? No, I don't mean the big ones, and I don't mean 10. I mean one, normal-sized stuffed animal. Besides, the rest of us had someone to look after, why not her…Total doesn't count, we _all_ _have_ to look after him.

"Oh, I know Max, I'll get one just right. And thanks, I want to be like you one day," Angel said sweetly having read my mind.

I was so proud of my little girl, and a little flattered. _Thanks_ I thought. It had just a bit too much emotion in that one word for me to want to say it out loud. Fang would never let me hear the end of it if I did.

She just smiled in response catching my drift. She came over and gave me a great big hug. _Your welcome, Max. I love you._

I gave her a quick squeeze and she pulled back. _You too._ I thought and ended our mental conversation. I came back to the real world. Fang was watching my face, and I felt a little awkward.

"What?" I asked then said sarcastically, "Do I have something on my face?" He rolled his eyes and I smirked. "So, Ig. What's for breakfast?"

"Something even you couldn't mess up." He got up and walked over to his backpack. I could hear him pushing things around for a bit then he pulled out some granola bars.

"You know, I think your right. Not even _I_ could mess those up," I said. I stood up and stretched, popping my back in the process. I walked over and stole a granola bar.

"Silver…and red," Iggy said suddenly. I frowned then looked down at the wrapper I was holding.

"Yep," I told him. Okay, before you go haywire on me saying how a blind guy can't know what color the wrapper is, let me talk. We have abilities, you know, the whole Angel reading minds thing. Most of Iggy's have to do with touch. He can feel colors, weird I know, but true. He can also identify people by the feel of their fingertips, wing tips work too, but most people don't have those.

I can go at super-sonic speeds. It rocks, big time. Flying at 200 plus is the best non-deadly scenario adrenaline rush ever. I also have a wicked sense of smell, but that doesn't help too much most of the time.

Fang can blend into the environment. Fits him. Luckily, for me, it only works when he doesn't move. I guess the only reason I saw him when I woke up was because he had just done a 360.

Nudge can feel emotions through objects. Not good when visiting the Vietnam Wall. Recently, she's become magnetic. One more reason why we can't have cell phones.

Gazzy…Gas. That's his name, that's his power. Really bad smelling gas that looks like a nuclear gas cloud of doom. Which it is. The better one is mimicry. From which the hobby of getting others in trouble came from.

Angel just has to many powers for her own good. Besides reading minds, she controls minds, breaths underwater, talks to fish-and some other animals-, and transforms is her newest one. Seriously, and she's the youngest. Some would say that's just not fair.

Anyway.

Nudge started to wake up. And the Nudge Channel has begun. "Hey Max, where are we going do you think? I had a dream where you and Fang and Angel were talking about New York. Wait, was that a dream? Oh, Max, can we go there please? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

I stared at her for a moment. Then spoke slowly, making sure she wouldn't interrupt. "Yes, Nudge. We are going to New York. Those are the coordinates." I tossed her a granola bar, which was gone 2 seconds after I gave it to her.

Gazzy was up by now and had eaten the granola given to him by Iggy. Then apparently decided it was the perfect moment to let one rip. Not pleasant.

"Ew, Gazzy! Could you at least _try_ to keep that in check?" Nudge shouted jumping up from where she was. Angel giggled. "It's not funny!" But Gazzy was rolling on the ground laughing his butt off and soon so was Nudge. I smiled at them and shook my head. At least they still knew how to have fun.

"All right everyone, up and away in 5," I said still smiling.

Thus began our journey back to the land of homeless children, subway tunnels, and tall buildings. Thank God we have wings, the only good thing that came from that infernal place. Kind of ironic. They locked us in cages, but gave us more freedom than anyone else in the world.

* * *

We were on the edge of New York. It felt like we were in space, the bright lights below matched the stars over head. There was a forest near Central Park, which we proceeded to land in.

There was music coming from inside Central Park. Which of course started a Nudge rampage.

"Hey Max do you hear that music? It sounds like a band playing something alternative or punk. Can we go see who, Max?" Nudge pleaded.

I bit my lip, "Alright, sure, but just for a little bit."

"Thank you!" She had a smile so big on her face, you couldn't help but smile back. You know, sometimes I wonder if I really was the leader. These kids run me just about as much as run them.

The music got steadily louder as we got closer, Nudge leading the way, and the words became decipherable.

…_world._

_Now I'm sick of this waiting,_

_So come on and take your shot._

_You can spit all your insults, _

_But nothing you say's gonna change us._

_You can sit there and judge me,_

_Say what you want to,_

_We'll never let you win!_

_I'm a nightmare,_

_A disaster,_

_That's what they always said,_

_I'm a lost cause,_

_Not a hero,_

_But I'll make it on my own._

_Me against the world!_

_I'm a nightmare,_

_A disaster,_

_That's what they always said,_

_I'm a lost cause,_

_Not a hero,_

_But I'll make it on my own._

_I've got to prove them wrong,_

_They'll never bring us down,_

_We'll never fall in line,_

_Me against the world!_

I thought the song kind of described me and the flock. It was us against the world, against the whitecoats. To them I was a nightmare, a disaster. I was a lost cause, not a hero, but I _would_ make it on my own. _We_ would make it on _our_ own.

"I wonder what group this is," I said to no one in particular.

"Simple Plan. Me against the world."

I jumped a bit. "You know I wasn't really expecting and answer." I said to Fang. "How do you know anyway?"

"One of the people who blogged back to me sent this song to me. They said it described us."

"Huh. They were right, it does." I said. I could see Nudge getting ready to launch into a monologue. "We'll stay for one more song. Just because we came in in the middle." Another song began and we lapsed into silence. Except for Fang who leaned over quietly.

"This is Promise."

I wondered briefly why he was telling me this, but let the thought slip.

_Break down,_

_I can't take this,_

_I need somewhere to go._

_I need you._

_I'm so restless,_

_I don't know what to do._

_We've had our rough time,_

_Of fighting all night,_

_But now you're just slipping away._

_So just give me this chance,_

_To make the wrongs right._

_To say…_

_Don't, don't, don't walk away._

_I promise,_

_I won't let you down,_

_You down._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_I promise,_

_We'll be just fine,_

_This time._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_Without you,_

_I go through the motions._

_Without you,_

_It's just not quite the same._

_Without you,_

_I don't want to go out._

I wasn't really thinking much about what the song could mean, until Fang lightly touched my back. I looked back at him, then I realized why he had told me the name of the song. It was from him to me. About when we split up, telling me not to leave, and promising he wouldn't.

_I just wanted to say,_

_That I'm sick of these fights,_

_I'll let you be right,_

_If it stops you from running away._

_So just give me this chance,_

_To make the wrongs right,_

_To say…_

_Don't, don't, don't walk away._

_I promise,_

_I won't let you down,_

_You down._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_I promise,_

_We'll be just fine,_

_This time._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_Take my hand._

_Take my hand (I promise)._

_Take my hand (I promise)._

_Take my hand!_

_I promise,_

_I won't let you down,_

_You down._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_I promise,_

_We'll be just fine,_

_This time._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_If you take my hand tonight._

_I won't let you down,_

_If you take my hand tonight._

I reached out and took Fang's hand, so no one else would see, and gave it a quick squeeze, then let go. _I forgive you,_ I thought, letting him read it on my face. He smiled and I read the gratitude on his somehow still impassive face. It was a slight loosening of his eyes and lips.

"So, are we going or what?" that would be Iggy with his usual bluntness.

"We're going." I said, reaching out my hand for Angel's and walking off in the direction of the coordinates.

* * *

I sat there and stared. This was it. This was the coordinates. I was going to kill my voice, and make sure he was buried here. Yes, we had been led to a graveyard. A freaking _graveyard!_ I mean, what the heck.

**Look for a grave.**

_Naw dip, Sherlock,_ I thought back. _Any particular grave? The grave of Ebenezer Scrooge?_ No answer_._ Stupid jerkoid voice.

"Look for a grave, guys," I said repeating the voice's words.

"Any particular grave?" asked Iggy.

"Apparently not." I said. "Just a grave. Look for something, I don't know, not normal."

"I found it." He said, putting a hand on Gazzy's head.

"Oh ha, ha," I said. I hopped the fence. Then turned around and grinned. "Hey Gazzy, you know why people put fences around graveyards?" Gazzy's eyes went round as he shook his head, looking forward to a good ghost story. "Because people are just _dying_ to get in." He looked a little disappointed, but the others laughed.

We had been searching for about 20 minutes when Angel shouted to me.

"What is it, sweetie?" I asked bending down to look at the gravestone in front of her.

"What does that mean?" she said pointing to some worn words near the bottom that were half covered in moss. I just managed to pick out the words. It said:

_Here lies_ _Gemma Doyle. Dear Friend, and loving lady. _

_Though she may have felt alone,_

_She was never truly._

_Though she may have seemed lost,_

_She knew what she was doing._

_Though she belonged to this world,_

_She never was meant to live here._

_Though she had caught many a man's eye,_

_The one who caught hers was lost,_

_Forever bound to the place she loved the most._

Okay, this defiantly goes under unusual. It sounded like she had just been some person who day dreams too much; only you can't bring people into your head. Maybe, there was another world. One she had somehow been able to transport herself into.

And maybe I had lost the last strand of sanity I had.

I looked back to the top.

_Born: June 21, 1876_

_Died: August 8, 1938_

She was 62 years old. I felt drawn to the stone. Like it was important.

"Fang! Take a look at this!" I called turning my head, but not my eyes.

Fang came, followed closely by Iggy, the Gasman, and Nudge. He read over it, and frowned. I still couldn't take my eyes off it. I reached out to trace the letters.

Sadly, I never got a chance.

The moment I touched the stone, the world disappeared; Fang, the flock, the graveyard, everything. Then I was being thrown onto hard cold ground. I hit it with a small "oof".

I shot up from the ground. Where the heck was I? I felt the hairs on my neck prickle and heard a sudden jerk of movement. I whirled around to see a pretty red-haired girl with freckles sitting by a young man with black hair and dark skin. He looked a bit like Fang, but the face structure was different.

They were looking at me with slightly wide eyes, and open mouths.

Umm. Can we say awkward?

I stood on the balls of my feet, then came back down. "Right, well…I um," What the heck was I supposed to say. 'Hi I just was standing in a graveyard and now I'm here. By the way, where is here?'. Yeah, that would go over great.

"Gemma…?" the young man asked hesitantly.

I froze. Then felt my eyes widen like theirs. Did he just, no way…but it would make sense. What am I talking about? None of this made sense!

There was a rather sudden burst of light, and Fang rolled to a stop next to me. I was still staring at this so called Gemma.

"What's your name?" I whispered.

She looked at me curiously. I wonder why. Seeming to decide whether or not to lie. She apparently decided on what I believed to be the truth.

"Gemma." She said, watching my reaction. "Gemma Doyle."

Holy Crap.

* * *

A/N: So reveiw? Please? I really don't care if you tell me that this is the worst story you've ever read in you whole life and I need to get a new hobby, which is what I'm going to get anyway if you _don't_ reveiw. Meaning I won't write anymore. Threats are flattering too.

I will have a Fang POV in the next chapter, I promise. And I'm Thinking of having a couple Gemma POV's. Tell me what you think!


	3. She's Not Dead

**Chapter 3**

Fang/3rd POV

Fang was still looking over the graves and had just passed by someone named Lucy Fairchild. He found it funny how graves had no particular order. Families were put together, but there was no order to the families.

"Fang! Take a look at this!" called Max.

Fang looked over to see Max and Angel kneeling by an old gravestone. Max's expression was one of confusion.

He knelt next to her and read the passage on the gravestone of some girl named Gemma Doyle. Fang frowned. What was it with their lives and insoluble riddles?

Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy were here. Akila and Total had come over too, but Fang had a feeling Max didn't even notice. She reached out a hand and touched one of the letters. Or at least he thought she did. She was gone in a flash of darkness. Only an imprint in the grass was left.

"Max!" Fang yelled.

Fang reached out to grab her a second too late. He kept reaching for the gravestone, but Iggy stopped him.

"Is she gone?" Iggy asked seeming worried.

"Yes."

"Do you…do you think she's dead?" Iggy's voice cracked.

Ice froze in Fang's chest so his heart was working double time, but going half the speed.

"No."

The kids looked at him funny. Funny, but hopeful.

"Why?" Iggy asked still holding Fang's wrist.

"She doesn't feel dead."

Fang could practically feel the wheels in the others head's backpedaling.

"Would you care to explain that?" Iggy spoke for the whole flock now.

"She doesn't feel dead," He repeated. "I'd know."

"Even if she isn't we can't risk going after her," Iggy said, reasoning against Fang.

Fang looked up at Iggy, but his words were directed to them all. "We're a flock. We stay together. It's what we do. It's why we've lived this long." _And I promised I wouldn't leave her. I told her she dies when _we_ die._

Iggy thought for a moment, nodded and let go. "Do you want to go first?"

Fang didn't even answer, just leaned forward and touched the stone. He didn't even feel it before it vanished. All the sudden he was thrown rolling against the ground. He sprung up discovering Max next to him, staring wide-eyed at a dark haired, dark skinned boy and a red-haired girl who looked around the ages of 16 or 17 and were sitting against a tree.

"What's your name?" Max whispered.

Max seemed to be looking more at the girl than the boy, and indeed it was the girl who answered.

"Gemma." She said warily and Fang's gaze shot to her. "Gemma Doyle."

Gemma POV (what's bold is Libba Bray's)

**Kartik's eyes close, and within seconds, he's asleep. I sit beside him, listening to his breathing, stealing secret glances at his beauty: long, dark eyelashes resting on high cheekbones; strong nose leading to full, slight parted lips. They say a lady should not feel such desires, but how could a lady not? I should have to sleepwalk through my life not to feel the pull of those lips. **I think about touching them, but the moment I decide it would not wake him, there is a brilliant flash of light.

It is much like the sunlight, put inappropriately in the middle of the night. I shield my eyes but there is no need now, yet I still feel Kartik jerk swiftly to awareness from the suddenness. I uncover my eyes just in time to see a girl—though she could not have been much older than myself—twirl to face Kartik and I.

She stood staring at us, and we sat staring back. If I had not been so busy trying to discover the cause of this girl's appearance, I might have had a thought to close my mouth.

She stood on the ball of her feet and let herself fall down again. "Right, well…I um," I assume from the way she had no excuse that she had just as much of an idea of what was going on as Kartik and I do.

"Gemma…?" Kartik trialed off uncertainly, and I know he is asking if she came from the realms. She froze before I had even begun to see if it was possible.

Another burst of misplaced sunlight radiates through the dark, and I feel my eyes burn again. This time it is a young man who has flown through the darkness to land next to the girl. He springs up as soon as he has landed. The young man reminds me of Kartik: dark skin to match the almost black eyes, but his eyelashes are shorter, and this boy's face is stone-like.

The girl is still as a statue as she continues to keep her eyes on me.

"What's your name?" I hear her whisper and this time I recognize a rather American accent. I wonder whether to lie or not. I have the advantage that I can and it would be believable as I was not the one who just came flying out of nothing. I decide against it. Perhaps if I tell the truth, so will she, it is unlikely, but possible.

"Gemma," I say. I watch her expression carefully to see if she freezes again, but this time it is the boy who snaps his eyes to me. "Gemma Doyle."

The sunlight made its sudden appearance again, and automatically my hands lift to block it. It lasted longer this time and when I look back I see why. Four have come this time. Four, and two dogs.

There were two girls and two boys. One boy looked to be the same age as the first two. The other was much younger. The youngest, except for a small girl. The last one was a pretty young black girl, between the ages of the newest arriving boys.

I looked back to the first to arrive and she met my glance.

Then she did the strangest thing. She turned to the tree beside her and punched it with all her might. The others looked at her startled. Except the boy who wore a calm expression while studying her. As if he didn't care. What was scary was that she left an indention. She quickly pulled her hand back to her, examining it.

I suddenly take notice of her appearance. She wears no corset that I can see. She is in a loose shirt that I see men wear, but the fabric seems more streamlined. More smoothly put together. It is also covered in dirt. She also wears a pair of pants, the fabric of which I cannot name; it seems strong despite the holes in the knees. Most striking though, is her. She is gorgeous. More lovely than even Pippa. She has this aura that seems to radiate beauty.

She let her hand fall and she returned her gaze to mine. I waited for a response from her. Besides punching a tree. The littlest girl suddenly turns to me and gasps. I have become quite anxious about their behavior. Could they be from the realms? Is that where they know me?

The eldest girl took a deep breath. "So, Gemma Doyle, how old are you?"

I wonder what their reaction to this question will be. "Six-teen," I reply.

"And how many months?" Again I wonder what the reaction will be.

"Nine."

"So it's…1896."

"Yes," How could she know the year from my birthday? How could she not know it in the first place? She nodded slowly.

"I'm Max," she says. "Do you, by any chance, know of a place where you belong? Besides here, I mean. You know, your own little made up world?"

Could she know? No, she couldn't. She would have called it the realms. It sounded as if she had only had my situation described to her by someone who knew, but didn't want to give anything away too easily. Could it be Felicity? Or Ann? No, they would have known better, wouldn't they? Had they met Mrs. McCleethy? I finally found my voice, and managed to form a sentence despite my jumbled thoughts.

"No. What do you mean?" I hoped dearly she could not hear the lie in my voice, or how it shook the tiniest bit.

"Max-" said the littlest one. She had the most adorable voice.

"I know," Max responded before the little girl could finish her sentence.

Max came toward me and I felt Kartik reach slightly for the knife in his pocket. If I had a knife I would have done so as well, for Max looked dangerous as she advanced.

She knelt down about an inch away from me. I tucked in my legs as she spoke.

"Look, I don't know why you're lying and I don't care. How about this, you tell me what world this is and maybe it'll explain why when I touched your _grave_ I suddenly ended up here." The world froze; she had to be lying…but my birthday? Wait, the light…

"Was it daytime from where you came from just now?" I ask and I see her smile.

"Yes."

Kartik has finally spoken up. "If you have just seen Gemma's grave, what date does she die on?"

Max looked over at him quickly, "How would you know I'm not lying? Unless you can see the future?" I had gotten this feeling she wouldn't put it past us.

I begin to wonder if the realms had more power than I knew. I didn't think they could, as I was the one who held all the power, but it was still possible.

"The realms?" It is the littlest one again. How could she know, were these people magic, did they honestly come from the realms as Kartik must think. I can't help but stare at the child.

"Magic?" she asks.

"Angel, I think you're just scaring her," Max says looking pointedly at the girl, she appears to enjoy my dilemma though.

Max turns to face me again. "So the realms. What are they?" Max sighs when I give no answer. "Lady, I just came from standing over your grave, if you said they were a place where little pink bunnies ran around, frolicking with the buffalo, I'd probably believe you. And, if I feel like being nice, I'll tell you a secret of mine," She adds smugly.

I had a feeling she'd know if I lied, so I tell the most absurd thing I can think of. The truth. "It's a place where creatures of only the wildest of imagination exist. Where magic is real. It is the place people visit before they die, then they cross a river and no one knows after that."

Unfortunately, she seemed to believe me. "Ah, well that explains a lot." She got up and paced for a bit. When she stopped she turned back to me. "I think I know why we're here."

The statement caught me off guard. I wasn't the only one.

"What?" said the tall strawberry blond boy, who looked the eldest besides the dark one.

"We're always being told to save the world. What if, to save this world, we have to save another world first. We already saved it in the future, but we can't save it if it's not there to be saved." She looks at them with an immense smile on her face. "It really is no wonder you love me."

I am shocked by her words, and I was curious as to the reaction she would get. To my amazement they beamed back at her. Well, except for the one who seemed to be impassively neutral about everything so far.

"How could you know the realm's state of turmoil?" I say, curiousness nudging me into talking.

Max's smile fades and I wonder if I have crossed some unknown line. "Your grave said you lost someone there."

I am struck by a feeling which forbids me from moving. No. Who could I lose? Is it Felicity, so happy to be with Pippa again? Or could it be Ann, in love with being called beautiful? Kartik will not even speak of the realms so I need not fear for him, yet I do. It is pointless, but I do.

"Who?" I croak, not really wanting to know the answer.

She shrugs, "I don't know, some dude."

"Some what?" I ask. Was that even a word? Dude? Perhaps some kind of slang.

"A dude." Realization dawns on her face, "Oh, I mean a guy, a um… you know, gentleman." She is awkward, I realize with a start.

The elder, strawberry blond boy scoffs at her use of the term, but I am too far gone to notice.

"Gemma? Gemma?" I jerk away from my frets of who I might lose, and is male at that. I look around to see Kartik. "Are they…?"

"No," I reply answering his still unanswered question of their coming from the realms.

"Are we what?"

I look up at the new voice and am surprised to see it has come from the impassive boy. His voice is deep, much like Kartik's has grown, and powerful. It is a sound I can imagine many girls wanting to wake up to.

"Are you from the realms," I say.

The little one, Angel, I assume, giggles.

"No, but I'm pretty sure we could pass for it," she says in return to my questioning glance.

I hear the others laugh and Max say, "Probably, Angel, probably."

"Why is that? Would you mind telling us something about yourselves as it is quite obvious you know so much about us?" I can tell Kartik has gotten impatient from his voice. I guess it is because of the confusing statements that leave us behind. I admit, so have I.

Max looks at us with a strange smile on her lips. "You wouldn't believe us," she says.

"You just told me that you came from the place where I am buried. I visit a place drenched in magic. You could probably tell me that you are mass murderers on the run. You can't even seem to afford proper clothes. Where is your corset?" I am most likely to harsh with my words, but I was never the mistress of amiability.

Max stares at me a moment, so do the rest of the children. All but Max suddenly burst into laughter. They fall silent, though, at a glare from Max.

"I don't wear corsets," She said punctuating every word. "People in our time don't wear them anymore, except for costumes. And anyway, that's just too girly for me." My liking for her is increased with these words. She was like me, and I can tell she was not fond of anything to do with distinguishing the sexes.

The boys, once again excluding the dark one, laugh so hard I think they shall bust with the pressure of it all.

"Shut up, sexist pig," Max says giving them both a slap and directing the second part to the elder, but the next to the small blond boy, "and piglet."

I have never heard of such a command to come from a woman and I am sure she and Felicity will rival.

"So, your story, as we inquired?" Kartik asks.

I hear Max sigh and see her turn around. At the moment it didn't look as though she wasn't going to tell us but rather how to tell us.

"Max." The voice is surprising once again as it came from the tall, dark, quiet stranger.

Max looks at him and I have the feeling that I have missed a conversation that should have taken much longer and many more words, as opposed to its half a second and silence.

She turns back to us and I see an absurd smile on her lips.

"We're human-avian recombinant DNA hybrids with a nucleus in our red-blood cells, air sacs, empty bones and other…things." I am sure if I had understood half of that I would have been able to piece together the rest, but I did not.

"What? Can you speak any faster?" I ask slightly flustered. A wicked grin spread across her face and I wonder what I have just done.

"We'rehuman-avianreacombinantDNAhybridswithanucleusinourred-bloodcellsairsacsemptybonesandotherthings," She let out the rest of her breath. "If you want it any faster you can ask Nudge."

"Oh! Can I Max? We should, like, have a game to see who can say it the fastest. I would soooo beat all of you. Can we, can we, can we?" The black girl who I assume is Nudge, says.

"Yeah, sure Nudge, later when we're all asleep and you can talk to the dark. Maybe if we're in a cave it'll echo back to you," it is the tall strawberry-blond one that speaks again.

"He-" Nudge begins but Max cuts her off.

"Okay, seriously guys, we have to figure this whole thing out. For you two," she says gesturing at Kartik and myself, "basically, we're bird kids. We fly. Evil scientists decided it would be fun to play God."

Oh my! She can _fly_. I look around at them again. She had said they were bird kids, so…did they have wings?

"Yup," says Angel, whom I realize has blond hair like the little boy, in answer to my thoughts. How did she know? I remembered when thoughts would flood my head, was she like this? I was so weak I could barely talk.

"Um…sort of. Not that painful though," She says looking at me worriedly.

I stare at her for a moment, then come to my senses, "Well, I'm glad for your sake."

She gave a smile that made my heart glow, "Me too."

There had been silence among the other members of the meeting and the little blond boy spoke up.

"Okay, does anyone want to fill us in," He says. "Angel?"

Angel turned her blue eyes back to him. "She can read minds too. But not like me. Only sometimes, and when she does it hurts. It makes her all dizzy and stuff so she can't see straight."

I feel Kartik turn to me and pointed look away. Silence takes over our assembly a second time. Max is the one to break it.

"Right, well. Back to business. If we're going to help you we'll probably need to be around you a lot so we aren't left out of the loop."

"They could stay at the school with you," Kartik suggests.

"Yes, but only the girls. It _is_ an all girl school, remember," I say reminding him needlessly.

He shrugs, "The boys could stay at the Gypsy camp."

"Woah, woah. You mean, split us up? No. _No way_." Max is glaring at me and I feel almost frightened. "We can all just stay at the Gypsy camp then."

"You would be, as you said, left out of the loop," I say. I am also interested in getting to know Max better. "Kartik stays at the camp and it is very hard for me to get information through to him."

"We are _not_ splitting up," Max says determinedly.

Kartik speaks again, "It wouldn't be as if you'd never see each other." Max stays quiet so he continues. "The Gypsys go to the school often, especially now that the magic is about. The Gypsys are rather protective."

"And scared," I add under my breath.

"Why's that?" Max asks and I am shocked she heard me. When I do not give an answer she turns to the shadowy figure and asks, "Well?"

"I don't like it," he says and I worry of what else I could say, but Max appears to expect more of him, and he complies, "But I think we should."

Max nods reluctantly, "Alright, Total and Akila can stay with you," she says looking to us once more, "as long as, we do see each other soon, and on a semi regular basis." She looks satisfied with herself, then pauses. "I guess we should both introduce ourselves." She said chuckling. "As I told you, I'm Max, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Silent is Fang, pyro-manic is Iggy" she said pointing to the older strawberry-blond one, "the younger version of him is the Gasman—Gazzy—the motor mouth is Nudge," the darker skinned girl, " and the adorable little angel is, Angel with her dog Total-the black one-and Akila-the malamute. We are the flock."

She now looks at us expectantly. "I, as you already know, am Gemma Doyle and this is Kartik."

I am suddenly curious of something. I stand up and the group of kids tense. I smile and walk towards Max a bit.

"Um…Max, could you turn around a moment." I ask trying desperately not to sound to out of place. She eyes me warily and I can tell she still does not trust me.

"Why?"

"I need to know if my dress will fit you." It is my turn to smile wickedly, "And my corset."

The look on Max's face is priceless.

"I don't think it'll fit around the wings," she says forcefully. Which reminds me of them.

"Oh, yes, may I see them? Please?" I ask, hoping I do not sound like I am begging. Max shifts and mumbles something I cannot hear, takes a deep breath, and the next moment there is not enough space.

Her wings are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. At least 13 feet, light brown, but not quite fawn colored, and speckled with darker brown. Along the bottom white streaks flow horizontally. I am insanely jealous, but they suit her more than me, and I notice how well they fit her structure.

I close my jaw as soon as I come back to myself and find Kartik at my side also looking at the wings with awe.

Max shifts again, even more uncomfortably than before and I see how strange this must be. I have one more request though.

"Can I…Can I touch them?" She looks up at me, and I can see her bite her lip. Slowly, I notice her left wing come toward me. She stretches it so it almost seems like a hand held out for me and I lightly brush the center. In the moment before she pulls it away, I feel it is soft and slightly warm. Much like a blanket.

"Sorry," she says.

"No, don't be. Their beautiful. I wish I had them."

She gives a harsh laugh. "No, you don't. The wings are awesome. But people want you for them. We aren't treated as human anymore, because, we _aren't_ 100 percent human anymore. Nothing comes without a price." Her face is dark, and I remember what she said about a scientist wanting to play God. They must have done this to her.

"You have no idea," Angel says quietly, with sad eyes that pierce through to my heart.

The others in the flock look up at me with those same eyes. Yet despite the pain, I see fire. Fire fueled by pain, that I know I will never see again.

I hear a whistle from the Gypsy camp and look up to see the moon has traveled much to far. I should be back by now.

Kartik and I look at each other. "We have to go" he says and I nod.

"I should have been back hours ago." I agree.

I watch as Max sets her jaw in determination. _This must be painful for her. To say good-bye to those she loves, even if it is only for a little while._

She kisses the Gasman on the head, both of whom look up sadly.

"I know, but we'll see each other soon. It won't be like last time." She says, looking for a moment at us. "See you, Ig. Fang." Max nods her head at both of them, which they both return, and takes Angel's hand. Then waits for me to lead the way. I notice how the Fang is the only one who does not seem to mind being separated. Yet I have no idea how he feels at all.

I look at Kartik, who looks back. I too nod my head in farewell, and begin the journey back to my own personal hell, which I will now be sharing with some very interesting people.

* * *

A/N: Sorry, it took so long to update. I wasn't allowed on the computer until I cleaned my room, but I will do that really quick and try to do this too. This is a really long chapter though so be happy. Reveiwing would be awesome! Thanks mucho! I only don't reveiw when I don't like a story, otherwise I just say, 'I like your story, update.' And that's cool too. By the way, do you want me to name the chapters?


	4. Corset Attack

**Chapter 4**

I could feel myself splitting in two again. I could tell Angel and Nudge were heart broken too, but trying not to show it.

I looked back to see the boys watching us leave with sad expressions. Yes, even Fang, but I bet I was the only one who saw. I smiled a little good-bye, which was barely returned.

Anyway, back to right now. Well, a hundred years ago now. Well, oh whatever, my life never made sense.

I saw Gemma looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" I asked. I'm just not that great with strangers.

"I just…I err, nothing," she stuttered in her British accent focusing on the ground so hard I was waiting for lasers to come shooting out and destroy the path-ish thing we were on. "Your going to have to learn to speak properly. Especially to men." Gemma said. I groaned internally.

Angel looked up, "Why?"

Gemma looked at us as if we had 3 heads. I mean, sure, we're not normal, but not _that_ bad.

"I don't know what the rules are in your time, but here, men are dominant. We are servants, meant to be toys, for them to decide what we should do." Luckily for her, she said it bitterly, meaning she didn't like it either, and I wouldn't have to kill her.

"What about Kartik?" I asked, "He doesn't seem so bad."

I'm pretty sure she didn't notice, but she smiled a little.

"No, he's not, most of the time. He knows the feeling though, he is Indian." She said.

Nudge, Angel and I looked at each other with the 'What?' face. Until Nudge figured it out. Nudge rant, on.

"I remember now! From, like, 1860ish to…I don't remember, Britain took over India and made them their slaves. The really weird part was that there were, like, a million Indians, and only a few English. Don't you think that's kinda messed up. But, like, how could that be possible? Wouldn't the Indians kick the British people out? I mean, that's what they did, but– "

"Nudge!" I said.

She looked over sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Right. Nudge, we're going to be in _school_. You can't go off like that. Especially since you would be talking about the future, and most people don't know the future." I said, preparing myself to breach the subject of that…place.

Gemma came out of her trace of Nudge's rant. "Yes, women only speak when spoken to." Oh, god. We're back in this place in time. "That may not be so much of a problem at school, since we are an all girl school. I do hope we can find you all some corsets and some dresses."

I groaned out loud this time.

"Hey Max, I just thought of something." Here we go again. "Since, you know, we're already slender, they'll fit pretty good on us. Don't you think? And we'll still be able to breath fine too, because of our air sacs we take in more oxygen," Oh, goody, so it will make it that much easier to breath when we're being squished so it doesn't look like we have wings. "So we'll look normal right?"

"We're also going to have to work on your speaking skills." Gemma said, "I believe my clothes will fit Max. I don't quite know what to do for you two though. I suppose we might be able to sew you one. That would take time though."

This is officially going to make school my least favorite word ever. Even if it already was. I mean, come on, me, Maximum Ride, in a _corset_. I would rather fight Omega again.

At that moment, we came to the edge of the woods. Huh, so it wasn't too far after all. Good, that meant I would only have to feel half empty that much less often. Everybody give a cheer!

Gemma stopped and I froze. No way I was getting caught here. After a little while she started walking, but more slowly. I didn't see anything but a crow. A really close crow. There was something weird about it, but hey, maybe it just senses my avainness. Then I saw a frozen patch of budding flowers. England must still be in a sort of winter. It is still March.

"What are we doing?" I whispered.

"There are working men here who have a camp set up beside the east wing. It is being rebuilt from the fire years ago." She whispered back. She seemed a bit sad.

"There was a fire? What took them so long to start rebuilding it?" I said quietly as I could while listening for men, dogs, the whole shebang. One thing I might be able to help with here.

"The fire had to do with the realms, I think that our headmistress, Mrs. Nightwing, is afraid of it. Most people are, especially the maid, Bridget." She said then she froze. So did I.

"What's wrong?" I breathed.

"We need to find a way to get you enrolled in the school," she whispered. Oh. I chagrinned.

I turned to Angel and Nudge. "Stay here, we'll be right back."

They knew better than to question. They nodded and I pulled Gemma as quick as I could the rest of the way to the school.

"What are you doing?" It was amazing how strong accents were.

"We need to get to your room. I'm going to shove myself into one of your corsets and dresses and then Angel is going to help me enroll us into this school."

"How is she going to manage that?" Gemma asked.

"There's a lot about us you still don't know." I said, "Now, your room?"

She took my hand, and we ran across the room, up some stairs, down a hallway, up some more stairs and half way down another hallway. She stopped at a door, and gently pushed it open to reveal a fairly good sized room with another sleeping person. We crept in and she went over to a dresser, opening one of the drawers and pulled out a tiny little thing that I was going to have to wear. No way was that going to fit around the wings.

She threw it to me. I looked around.

"Um…Where can I um, change." I said. This had to be one of the weirdest moments of my life.

"Oh, over there," She pointed to one of those old style changing stand up…things. Like curtains only with personality.

I took a deep breath stood behind it and changed; only I couldn't get the laces of the corset. The really uncomfortable thing was how tightly my wings had to be tucked in.

"Hey, Gemma?" I said, and she came around the corner putting some fancy dress that I'm sure was not going to get along with me over the thing I was changing behind. She took the laces and pulled. Holy cow, this was tight.

I thought she was done, but no, she has to make it that much worse.

"Hold on," she said, and I grabbed the closest thing I could, which happened to be the closet door. I sucked in a big breath of air just before she pulled again. There goes that perfectly good air that was just in my lungs.

"There we go, that fits you marvelously," she said as she tied the laces.

"Yeah, great." I choked. The only reason I was able to breath at all was because of the air sacs around my stomach.

"I believe it fits you better than it could ever fit me," she said, "You really do have a beautifully slender form. You are quite lovely."

I took a couple breaths as deep as I cold manage. "Thanks, I'll say more when I can get more oxygen in my lungs."

She laughed lightly, "Good luck with that." I grimaced. "We should get back to, Angel and Nudge, right?"

"Yeah," I said. I think my body was getting used to this. Probably because it's used to being a couple thousand feet high where breathable air is scarce.

She handed me the dress and I slipped it on taking off my jeans. I was really going to miss them. I felt really open down there. She handed me another piece of clothing—bloomers—which looked pant-like and I put those on too. They felt like really open capres.

"Okay, you go to bed, and I'll go down. See you later." I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm.

"How will you find your way down in the dark?" She said.

I rolled my eyes. "Please, I can see _really_ well in the dark." I scrammed out of the room and headed back to where I had left my two girls, just outside the doors to the school.

When I got to them, they were both alert and in a mild fight stance. I was so proud of them. When they saw me they dropped their stances and then just gawked at me.

"Aw, c'mon, this is bad enough with out you two going wacko on me." I said.

"Sorry, Max, but you look…wow," Nudge said.

"Yeah, you look beautiful," said Angel.

"Thanks," I mumbled, this was really uncomfortable in so many ways. Take my advice, never try on a corset. I pulled myself together and out of this strange situation. "Let's go mini-gang." That sort of hurt, that I only had half my flock.

I took their hands and walked back to the front door, knocked and waited, and waited…

…and waited.

I was just about to knock again when it opened showing a middle aged lady.

"Wha' choo h're fer?" she said. I thought Gemma had an accent.

"Hello, we're here from America. Our parents were supposed to have sent a letter. We are the Ride family. Do you know us?" I said, silently praying that she was some nice woman who was willing to let in a few freezing children just on their word, and that she would only see me, not Angel or Nudge yet so she couldn't see their clothes.

For the first time ever in my life, my prayers were answered by someone. Probably by Angel.

"Well, the Missus didn't say nuthin, but I spose it coulda slipped 'er min'," she said. _Yes!_

We came in as she stood back, it really was a nice place. I'm sure this is the only time I will ever think that.

"Goodness, children, wha' on earth choo tink you wearin'?" she said looking at Angel and Nudge.

"Never mind," Angel said in that voice I've come to dread.

The woman looked confused, "Ne'er min'."

"You have to go get the Missus," Angel told her.

"I 'ave to go get the Missus," the woman repeated, and shuffled off to go get this Missus. It was really creepy.

"Angel, I just have to say, that is _so_ awesome," Nudge said, "I mean, it's really creepy too, but since your on our side, it's okay."

"Nudge, now is not the time," I whispered. You never know who could be up at this hour, Gemma was.

She pressed her lips together, showing she wouldn't talk. As if.

At that moment the lady and the Missus came down. The Missus is exactly the kind of person I would expect to be doing this job. Scary. Luckily, I'm the Maximum Ride so I never get scared.

"Hello, did you by any chance get a letter from my parents in America. Mr. and Mrs. Ride?" I said in perfect English, thank you very much.

"No, I didn't. Nor do I understand why you two are in clothes unsuitable for the public." The Missus said in a voice of authority.

"Well, we were hoping you could get us some." Angel said, swaying a little on my hand.

"I could get you some." The Missus repeated, just like the other lady had. She turned to the other woman, who looked just as confused as she did, "Brigit, go get these girls some proper clothes to wear."

"Yes, ma'am," Brigit said and bustled off again.

"We need rooms, and a place to stay, if you please," I said, letting Angel do the back round work.

"Yes, I'm sure we can find some place for you to room," Missus said, "Perhaps you can stay with Jane. You can stay with Alice, and you with Karen," she continued, pointing first to Nudge and then to Angel. I'm pretty sure Angel was hiding Nudge's skin color. "What are your names?"

"I'm Maxine," I said.

"I'm Marylyn," Nudge, of course with some out there name.

"I'm Angela," Thank you Angel, for keeping things simple.

We sat in silence for a little while waiting for Brigit to come back. Finally she did.

"'ere you are Missus Nightwing," she said handing them to the Missus.

"Hand them to the girls," Nightwing said. "Brigit, if you would be so kind as to take these girls to the rooms of Karen, Alice, and Jane."

"Yes, goodnight Missus Nightwing," Bridget said. We left the headmaster there to come back from whatever state of unawareness Angel puts them in.

We trudged up the first flight of stairs Gemma and I had run up, and dropped Angel of in one of the rooms. A little ways down, we left Nudge, then I went up the next flight of stairs with Brigit and she dropped me off at the second door to the right.

"'ere ya go Miss Ride," Brigit said, and waited until I was safe in the room. Weird. Then she remembered something. She walked over to the other person in the room and gently shook her awake.

The girl in bed groaned. "What is it? Time to wake up already?" She began to sit up and Bridget pushed her back down.

"No love, bu' choo got a new roommate," Brigit gestured over where I was standing. The girl turned to look at me. She had black hair and a pretty face. "This Miss Ride."

She nodded briefly before her head fell back on the pillow. Brigit chuckled and left the room, waving a small good-bye.

I took a deep breath and looked around memorizing easy escape routes. The window, obviously. I went over to the same changey thing Gemma had in her room and took off the dress I was still trapped in. I scooted over to the bed I was going to be sleeping in. One good thing, it was right by the window. I pulled back the covers and laid down, pulling them back up over me.

I turned to look out the window. It showed the sky, the forest, and what I guess was the construction.

I finally drifted off, thinking something along the lines of, '_Goodnight, Flock_' and almost as an after thought, '_Goodnight, Fang._'

Fang/3rd POV

Fang felt like he was losing his right wing. Max turned around and gave him a small smile good-bye. For some reason that made it official, they were going to do this. Despite the fact he was being ripped apart.

Was he crazy? He wanted so much to just to run after her and keep her with him. He was sure Max had seen how he was feeling, even if no one else could. Just like he had seen it on her face.

When he knew she was gone completely, he faced Kartik, and waited for him to lead the way to this Gypsy camp.

"You'll see them again soon. They have Easter holiday coming up. Actually, where will Max go?" Kartik said

"With us," Fang said. Max wasn't going anywhere unless he was going with her.

"You aren't one to talk much are you," Kartik said.

"Trust me, you have no idea. I think he's spoken 6 more words in the last ten minutes than he normally does in a whole day," said Iggy.

Fang shot a wasted glare at Iggy.

"He's giving you the death glare," Gazzy said laughing.

"Aw, sorry buddy, I'm blind, so I can't see it. You could just tell me yourself, but that just wouldn't be you, would it."

"Shut up."

Iggy grabbed his chest pretending to have a heart attack, "It speaks! No, it speaks _again!_" he shouted.

"You're blind?" asked Kartik.

Iggy sighed dramatically, "Yes, it was a horrible accident, those people masquerading around as God attacked me trying to 'advance my eyes'," He finished bitterly. "On the bright side, I can still cook and blow things up."

"Blow things up?" Kartik asked alarmed.

Fang waved his hand in dismissal.

"Right, let's go. We'll have to convince the Gypsies to let you stay," Kartik said starting off in the almost opposite direction as Max. Iggy and Gazzy turned to Fang. Fang nodded and they started after Kartik.

Fang gave one last look towards Max. _I'll see you soon, I promise._ And he would. Just like he promised he wouldn't leave her. He would make sure he wasn't leaving her for any longer than he had to.

And she sure as heck wasn't going to leave him.

* * *

A/N: Here you go. Maximum Ride, in a corset. It just wasn't meant to be. And yet, it so was.

To those of you who were awesome enough to review, I just want you to know I love you, and have reported back to you. If I haven't, please review again and I shall. Oh, God, I'm talking like Gemma.

Reveiw? You know you want to. I'll write faster if you do. I swear, they provide good reason to keep going. You can even review multiple times to make me feel that much more loved, and I'll write that much faster.


	5. The Realms Whoa

**A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating fast enough. I was doing the play Oklahoma and then I was writing another really important part of the story. I'm sorry! This chapter is really long, because I wanted to make up for it, and there's really no place I could break it. I was going to have the whole night, but it was already 13 pages with a font size of 12 so...yeah. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Max POV

Never Again.

I just spent all day being entered into this school. All day! And let me tell you, if your ever offered the chance to go back to 1896 and go to school to see what young ladies were learning, punch the person in the face and flee for your soon to be destroyed life.

The pros of this place: It's freaking huge; I'm going to get breakfast, lunch and dinner every day; Angel and Nudge are having a blast.

The cons: I have to _walk_ everywhere in this place, remember how I said it's huge, yeah, _walk_; the food is absolutely the worst stuff I have ever had in my whole disturbed life. Iggy could make better out of rotten fish that we might catch; I get fed normal human amounts; I have to wear a corset (this so takes the prize) and a dress (this would come a close second, only I have to wear the corset under it); My roommate is going to be the death of me with her way too bubbly, mindless chatter about how women are to be in their place (At least Nudge has some sense, jeez!); Angel and Nudge are having a blast…I am not.

As you can see, I am not in a good mood. Then, to top it off, Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy aren't even here! If Fang were here at least I could talk to somebody about how absurd this is!

I took a deep breath. I was in "my" room happily reveling in silence, which I took to mean my roommate was asleep.

I heard a small creak and my eyes shot open. I heard more squeaks and movement. I sat up carefully, scooted to the door and opened it. It gave an audible groan and the movement stopped.

"Gemma?" I asked

"No."

Whoops. I really hoped I hadn't accidentally found someone I didn't wan to who might say, tell on me for being up and expecting Gemma, who I supposedly don't know.

I was already thinking up some whacked, suck up lie to any teacher who might be told, when I heard more scurrying. I looked over to see two figures coming towards myself and miss unknown.

They froze when they saw the light coming in from the bedroom window.

"Max?" I heard one ask hesitantly. It was Gemma.

I let out a small breath.

"Yeah," I said. I could see them a bit better now. A heck of a lot better thank they could see me. "What took you so long, jeez. We still have to get Angela and Marylyn." I slipped out of the room and closed the door, cutting off their light.

I saw her blink a few times. "You wish them to come?"

I stared at her "Um…yes," I said as if it were obvious, well it was to me anyway. I began running lightly to Nudge's room. I opened the door a peep and saw Nudge pretend to be asleep.

Only, I knew Nudge. Her lips move a little even when she sleeps.

"Nudge," I whispered, "C'mon, get up. We're going with Gemma."

Her eyes shot opened and she was up almost as fast as when Iggy called breakfast.

I rolled my eyes, ginning, as I shut the door.

Angel met us halfway to her room, shocker, huh?

Nudge, Angel, and I led the way through the dark. We may have been just a little anxious about seeing the boys.

When we got outside and the air hit my face, I almost blew cover right then and there. Gemma already knew, but I don't know her friends and I don't trust people I do know.

When we finally got to the woods, Gemma stopped me.

"Max," she said. Dang, she was panting from that little run? Well, we are wearing corsets…

"Where are you going?" she continued.

I stopped moving for a little bit, and looked at her. What was she talking about?

"The Gypsy camp. Why?" I asked cautiously.

She took another deep breath. "Max, we are not going there tonight," she said, and she looked kinda sorry.

But, this is me we're talking about so 'kinda' doesn't cut it.

I took a step toward her. "I have people to see," I said dangerously, "Sorry, I was under the impression I would be getting to see my friends _often_."

You should have seen the look on her face. She was terrified.

"We have to see our friends, as well. And _I_ am under the impression it is only fair for us to see our friends first as you saw yours yesterday."

"Excuse me? I don't believe I've had the _pleasure_ of meeting you," I said, seething.

"Felicity Worthington. Admiral Worthington's daughter," Felicity said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Max," I said in an overly polite voice. "Now, are you used to living with your friends all the time, every minute of everyday ever since you can remember?" I don't mean we used the bathroom together, but you catch my drift.

"Yes!" she said. "I was, and I still am. Until my friend _died_."

This is where we prove how much of a heartlessly good actor I am.

I leaned in and hissed, "Good so we don't need to see your friend. If she's _dead_."

I expected a fit. For her to burst into tears, scream at me, something along those lines. I did not expect for her to react like I would've.

She punched me.

The girl freaking punched me! In the face!

My head snapped to the side and I used the momentum to help me spin around and punch her in the stomach. Knee-jerk reaction.

I, of course, being the 2 percent bird freak that I am, sent her flying. I even held back a bit.

"Max!" "Felicity!" I heard shouted at the same time. Neither of which came from Nudge or Angel I'm proud to admit.

Felicity, who had hit a tree with her back, stared at me in some mixture of shock, hate, and terror.

I grinned at her.

"Stop it, please!"

I dropped my grin and looked at Gemma.

"Why can't we go see Fang now?" I asked and there had better be a good reason for this.

"Well, it's…it's like Felicity said," Gemma said-ahem-stuttered.

"Okay, she said your friend was dead." These people make less sense as I do. I'm not kidding either.

"We thought she was, she…came back to life, would you say?" Gemma said.

Hey! That's like when I killed Ari. I immediately shut down all thoughts of him. I did not need to be remembering him now.

"So how does a dead girl get priority over my living friends?" I asked. I am really not used to asking so many questions, or to have them answered.

"We told her we would see her," Gemma tried and I gave her an and-I-didn't? look. "And today is the last day we'll be able to see her before Easter break. We're all leaving tomorrow…"

"And we'll be going where, may I so kindly ask?" They just _forgot_ to tell us that it's Easter break. Right.

"With Fang? Or I'm sure either Felicity or I could have you stay at our house," Gemma said quickly, glancing over at Felicity for backup and apparently Felicity just didn't feel like it. No, glaring is much more fun. I would know.

"Great! All the more reason to go see Fang," I said. I could tell Angel and Nudge were getting impatient and I sent Angel a mental thought telling her I'd wrap this up soon.

On the other hand, I didn't have to.

I could hear footsteps coming from down the path I was planning on going down. If it had just been one man, I wouldn't have worried, but it sounded like a bunch of them. And Fang wasn't with them. I couldn't hear his footsteps. Or Iggy's. Or Gazzy's.

Gemma was about to say something, but I cut her off.

"Shh! Which way to the realms?" I asked hurriedly. Gemma seemed startled and confused by my question. She pointed in the opposite direction of the men coming.

"C'mon, then let's go!" I said. Angel and Nudge went right along, probably because they could hear it too, but the others just stared at me as if I had lost my mind. They have no idea.

I turned around to see Gemma and her friends still standing there, and the men were still coming. "Come on! Men are coming, do you want us to get caught?" I told them. I saw their eyes widen and they rushed to wherever they were going.

I followed them, and Gemma ran straight to another camp. I was pretty sure it wasn't the Gypsies, but I don't know and at the moment I don't care.

"Gemma! What are you doing?" I whisper-yelled.

"Going to the entrance to the realms so we can get away from the men," she said back.

We were all running, until Gemma decided to stop without telling me. I almost ran into her and I was bent over to slow myself down.

She stuck her hand out into the awesome nothingness of air, and a door-like thing showed up made out of light. I would have admired it if I wasn't so busy getting away. She ran through and her friends followed her, then Nudge, then Angel, and me happily bringing up the rear.

When we got through I was in the most beautiful place I had ever seen. In someplace lush and green, except for the white blossoms falling off the trees. I'm not one to go all amazed a lot but this was just one of those times. It was gorgeous and relaxing and peaceful. It felt like one of those times at the beach when we weren't actively on the run and the kids were playing and we were just…happy.

I could see Angel and Nudge gaping. I might have been too, it was that beautiful.

It got just a little darker and I turned to see the door that we came through, disappear. Just like that.

"Gemma, you better have a way of making that door come back," I said giving her a meaningful glare.

She cocked her head and gave me a patronizing look.

"How do you propose I would be getting back otherwise?" she said sounding as if she were curious. Gee, thanks; just don't fill the outsider in on anything.

"I don't know, you could magically teleport or something…you know, with out conjuring up a door made of burning ultraviolet rays," I shot back.

I laughed at their expressions, seriously, you have to come back in time just to try this. Avoid the corsets though.

"You know I could get used to you guys staring at me as if I'm speaking French," I said smiling.

Felicity spoke up, "We have a class in French, that is _not_ French. It sounds more like some Ancient Greek combinations."

"You should have been there last night when she was talking about who she was," I heard Gemma mutter.

"And just who is she? Gemma?" Felicity asked. Hello! You could have just asked me, she probably won't even get the wording right.

"Honestly, I don't know. I think she's a blessing though, if God exists and has been kind enough to take pity on the realms," Gemma told her.

"A blessing? A blessing from the snake of Satan is more appropriate," Felicity growled. She has no idea, in so, so many ways.

"You know, if you weren't dead on right in so many ways, I would have to punch you again since the last one didn't seem to get through your thick skull," I said scathingly. Again with the priceless faces.

"Max?"

It was Angel. I turned my head toward her so I could keep my eyes on Felicity.

"Yes, sweetie?" I answered.

"Can we go see the factory girls with them? Now? Please?" I will never get over Angel's ability to be so mature one second, and be a six year old the next. One more thing I love about her.

I mentally shook my head in an 'I don't know how she does it' way, and Angel projected a grin into my mind.

"I don't know. Can we, Gemma?" I took my eyes off of Felicity. No, I did not lose our staring contest, I was just showing maturity. Yes, it is possible for me to do that.

Gemma was staring at me concerned, not something I was used to. I gave her the same look back and she seemed to snap out of it.

"Y-yes, of course. We were going to go there anyway," she said. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, lead the way then, magic lady," I said holding my arm out, signaling for her to lead the way.

Gemma gave me one last funny look before moving on. Felicity and her other friend went after her. I really should find out that girl's name. Angel and Nudge looked at me for final confirmation to follow; only they both had small smiles on their faces. I rolled my eyes.

"Max, I just gotta tell you. I absolutely love watching you argue with people. It's more fun to watch you fight, but we aren't supposed to fight with these people, are we? Does that apply to just Gemma? But you come up with the coolest comebacks. I want to be just like you when I grow up."

"Thanks, Nudge, I'm sure you'll be real mini me, just much more beautiful," I said smiling. Even I can be a sucker for flattery.

Nudge looked at me wide-eyed. "But Max, you're..._gorgeous_."

I felt my cheeks redden a little bit. "Thanks," I muttered.

She ran up and gave me a hug before running off to find Gemma. I smiled hugging her back. Angel took my hand and we walked off together in a comfortable silence.

I could see Gemma, her friends and Nudge near a castle waiting for us with some other girls I didn't know. I tensed.

"I think they're friends," Angel said at my side, "Gemma trusts them, mostly."

I tensed a little more, "Mostly?"

"She worries about them, and she's a little scared of one girl named Pippa," she told me. We were there, so I just gave a small nod saying I got it.

I stopped about a yard away from Gemma, who was closest. Gemma's expression wasn't nearly as relaxed as it had been when we first got in here. She wasn't anywhere near as bad as me, but defiantly not calm. I was the only one who noticed as far as I could tell. I'd be talking to her about this later.

"Ah, Max, these are the factory girls-"

"Our friend Pippa saved them from the Winterlands," One of the girls cut her off.

"Yeh, we was bein' led away, and good ole Pip saved us. 'Orrible place, Winterlands. We owe lots ta our miss." Talk about cockney accents. "'oo ar' you anyway?"

I noticed Felicity was gone, but Gemma's other friend was still there.

"I was sort of under the impression Gemma cleared that up when she said my name was _Max_," I said with just a touch of a duh tone.

At that moment Felicity returned, with yet another girl I didn't know. I was able to figure out that this was Pippa. Why, you ask? Everyone straitened up, Felicity was tons more calm than I had ever seen her, Gemma's face was tighter and Gemma's friend rushed up to give Pippa a hug. She was also lovely. Stunning. Like, super-model stunning.

I could see why Gemma didn't like her though. Even through the smile and looks, there was just something about her that set me on edge. Not that that's hard to do, but still.

When she saw me, though, she was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Who's this? Is this a new friend?" she said, she reminded me a little of Nudge with her excitement.

"This is Max, from America, she's here to help with the realms," Gemma said hesitantly. What's with these people? The only relaxed person I could see was Felicity. And she would be the only person who I would not be relaxed as, being right beside Pippa.

"Oh, really? We should have a party then, to welcome her and her friends into our castle. Don't you think Gemma?" Pippa said ecstatically. Was it just me or did her eyes just get a little more um…blueish white instead of the violet. Who the heck has violet eyes anyway?

"Yes, of course," Gemma said, "But don't you think we should show her around? I mean, perhaps the Cave of Sighs, the Borderlands, the Gorgon?" Huh?

Pippa thought about it, while staring at me. I mean, like, _staring_.

"I guess," she said slowly, then—dun, dun, dun—it struck her. "How about, you can go show her around, and Felicity, Ann and the girls can help me set up the party!" I seriously thought I might have to shake myself of girly hyperness. I guess the girl whose name I didn't know is Ann.

Gemma nodded, and I got the feeling she felt the same way as me. Hang on a sec, aren't we forgetting two very important people?

"What about Marylyn and Angela?" I asked. I figured that since I didn't trust these people I wasn't going to use their real names.

Pippa shrugged like she didn't care. Like she didn't care! How can you not care about the two cutest little mutant bird children in the universe? I narrowed my eyes at her for a second, and then asked Nudge and Angel what they wanted to do.

"Can I stay here Max? You can show us around later if you want, I want to set up the party. I love parties! You know we never get to go to any, it'll be like, so much fun. I wish the boys were here, they probably wouldn't enjoy it though," Nudge went on.

"Okay! Okay, so you're staying here. Angela?" I remembered to add the A on at the last second.

Angel looked up at me, thinking, "I'll stay here with Nudge and help them set up," she said.

_There's a blind girl I want to meet too. Maybe I can help her,_ she thought to me. She was going to send her images. I don't think Angel meant for me to figure it out and when she knew I did she gave me this defiant look. I smiled at her softly, reminding myself she wasn't just my little girl anymore; she had to make her own decisions.

_It's your choice, I'm fine with whatever you do, just be careful and at least _try_ to keep it a secret,_ I thought back to her. She gave me the brightest smile I had ever seen.

She hugged me and ran over to take Nudge's hand.

"Alright, then it's just Gemma and me," I said turning to Gemma. Gemma had this weird look on her face, probably wondering what had just happened.

"It's settled then. You two have a good time," Pippa gave us this smile that reminded me of the Joker from Batman; it was just that creepy. Even creepier, these people were following her around like she was their goddess.

I raised my eyebrows and gave a bunch of quick nods in a row. I spun around and started walking away, pulling Gemma with me by the elbow. Ignoring the part of my brain saying, '_Don't leave them with the cretin!'_

When we were far enough away I dropped Gemma's arm and looked at her with a Fang-like expression. No, not the scowl, I mean the most common no emotion one.

She looked back at me like I was some crazy lunatic. That's been happening a lot lately.

"So," I prompted, "Where we goin'?"

"Oh, um…I suppose we could start of with Cave of Sighs as that is where you seem to have taken us." She said. Hey, I just wanted to get away.

Gemma started walking to a group of caves put together. A group of caves carved with half naked women. From the waist up. I made a mental not never to bring any of the boys here, especially Gazzy, at least the Fang wouldn't be so freaked out and Iggy couldn't see them.

When we got there a woman came out. If I hadn't been raised at the School, I would have been disgusted at her cuts and bruises all over. But I've seen worse on myself and on Fang, so I didn't really mind.

I saw Gemma look away slightly at the sight of her. Let's be rude shall we?

The woman bowed and Gemma returned the favor. As did I, not my cup of tea, but when in Rome, you should know the rest of this sentence. She didn't seem to mind that Gemma avoided looking at her.

"Hello priestess, who is this you have brought with you?" the woman said.

"Hello Asha, this is my friend Max, she is going to help us save the realms," Gemma said. Way to jump right in there.

Asha raised her eyebrows and looked at me.

"Is it so?" she asked.

"Yes, it is so," I said, not wanting to be left out of all the fancy talking.

Asha smiled warmly at me, unlike any of the experiments at the school would have done.

"Would you like to show her the temple?" Asha asked.

"Yes, that is why I am here," Gemma replied. I just stood there awkwardly, what could I say?

Asha bowed again and we did too, then Gemma led the way into one of the caves. Gemma showed me symbols, paintings, yet more carvings of the ever so sacred beautiful naked women. I saw Gemma redden a little every time she saw them. There was one symbol of two hands joined in a circle, and another of a skull and a sword insignia.

I was suddenly stuck by the thought that I had no idea what the heck was going on. I didn't know what was happening that I was supposed to stop, I didn't even know who was who or what was what.

"Hey, Gemma," I said still looking at the pictures on the walls, "What's your story?" I looked at Gemma who had stopped moving.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked quietly.

"Well, I guess since I really don't have anything better to do," I teased. She gave a sad smile, and looked at me.

"It is quite a long story, you might want to sit down for a little while. I shall warn you, it is not a happy story, it is no fairytale that ends blissfully," she said dejectedly.

I snorted, "How do you know, the story's not over yet. It sucks, but nothing ends until your dead and gone." I thought for a second. "Even then, after all, I did come from your grave."

The corner of her mouth twitched again. Then she told me. Everything.

**(A/N: If you have not read A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing, I warn you against major spoilers. If you already know everything, or you don't care, or you don't plan on reading them, please go ahead.**

**Beware, you have been warned.)**

Jesus Christ, talk about disheartening. She told me how when it was her sixteenth birthday, and she was still in India, she was out shopping with her mother. Two, not so random male Indians came up—one of them being Kartik—and said 'Circe is near'. She told me how she got a vision where her mother and the elder of the two boys/men who came up her dying. She kept getting visions and was sent to Spence Academy where she met Ann, her roommate, Felicity, leader of the school, and Pippa, Felicity's best friend. She found Kartik stalking her, warning her not to give into the visions.

She told me how she discovered how Circe was her favorite teacher, Miss Moore, who had been fired, and had supposedly died in the realms, then how she actually killed Circe. About how the Rakshana had chased her, tried to kill her, just like the order, only they had tried to get her to give them the magic and be one of them.

About some girl in an insane asylum who had helped them, and how she bound the magic to herself, but could give it to others. Kartik promising to be with her to create a new order for the realms, and then leaving her. She told me things about her mother killing and being brought into things she didn't want, which made so very happy I had my mother. I think. She told me why she didn't trust Pippa, and I could go on, but you would get bored and stop reading this, which we don't want to happen now, do we?

**(End of Dangerous Words)**

When she was done, she took a deep breath. She looked at me from where she was sitting. I actually didn't even know what the expression on my face was. I was still thinking how it could all be a bunch of lies, despite the odds. Whatever it was, it was apparently amusing enough to laugh at.

"I don't even know why I told you all that," she said still laughing, "I've never told anyone all of that. I guess you really are special, aren't you?"

I grinned, "You mean besides the fancy wings?"

She smiled bigger, "Yes, besides the wings."

I frowned, remembering something I don't know how I forgot, "Gemma, can you do me an ultra, mega, humongo favor?" I asked straitening up.

She was suddenly wary, "I suppose…"

"Can you undo this corset before my wings are stuck in place forever?"

She laughed, again, "Yes, I can, and I will."

She came around behind me, something I found very uncomfortable, but somewhat tolerable. When she was done, I let the corset slide off. I took a deep breath and stretched. I stretched my back first, then pushed out my wings as far as they would go, so they made a V shape.

I saw Gemma looking at me wistfully, just like last night. I looked at my wings. The primaries were spread out so they really looked like an eagle's even though I wasn't flying at the moment. I have to say, if any part of me really is beautiful, it would have to be my wings. But most people don't see that, oh well. I guess it's sort of like inner beauty.

"You seriously don't want them, however awesome flying is," I told Gemma and she shrugged.

"If life is a balance, and yours is truly as terrible as you make it out to be, flying must be, as you say, awesome. I do know what you mean, though, I've flown before." Gemma said.

"Really?" I asked as I pulled my wings in.

"Yes, really. I was more floating though, and I wasn't too high before I couldn't breath," she said.

"Ah. That might be a problem."

"A small one, yes."

"Yeah, breathing is totally over-rated."

We smiled together. For about 1/4 of a second before we burst out laughing.

"Come on, you still have an entire world to show me." I said chuckling.

We put my corset back on incase we ran into anyone and Gemma showed me the rest of the realms from the Borderlands, to the river, to the forest, to what she thought for a while was the temple. Gemma told me about all the magical creatures that live here. She seemed highly disappointed I couldn't meet any. By the time we were done and we started heading back to the girls, it had been a very long time.

They were way too excited to see us in my opinion.

"Aw, you missed it. You were late so we went ahead with the party and now it's too late to do anything else major. We'll just have to have another one the next time you come so we can all get to know you better, Max," Pippa said over the chattering girls.

"Uh, huh. Angela! Marylyn! Time to go, move it!" I said seeing them say good-bye and rush over to me. We started walking to where the door was supposed to show up, waiting for Felicity, Ann, and Gemma to say their so long's.

"Hey, Max? Do we trust them?" Nudge asked. Wow, only one question.

"I don't know yet. You tell me, you were around them." I said while silently counting all the reasons I wouldn't trust them with my life.

Nudge thought for a moment. "I guess. I can't find any reason not to. I mean, there really nice and stuff, but I don't want to trust them. I will if you do though."

I bent down so I was eye level with her. "Nudge, there will always be people, especially in our lives, who will try to make you trust them. There will _almost_ always be some feeling to make you no want to. If you don't want to, don't. Even if it's mean, even if it's illogical, it's just one of those times you have to go with your heart, not you brain."

She bit her lip, thinking, then smiled at me. "Okay, thanks. Is that what you did, only, like, opposite, when you trusted Ari? 'Cause, I mean, no offense, but that really wasn't logical. In my opinion anyway. I don't think I would have been so nice. You must be really good at reading people, huh, Max?"

Back to good old rambly Nudge.

"I guess I am," I said smiling. I could see the others coming towards us and so I straitened back up turning back into sarcastic, mean, Max.

No one said anything when we were all there. We just went on our way to the door. Gemma stuck out her hand again and thank god for her sake the door appeared.

When we were outside I spoke up again. "I want to go see Fang," I was so not taking no for an answer.

"Max it's really late. Do you really want to go? Please can we just go to bed now?" Gemma said.

"Yes. Let's go."

And so we were off. However much they might fuss and fight about it. Plus, I knew Angel and Nudge were as ready as I was with the new adrenaline pumping in there veins at the idea of seeing our best friends again.

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**A/N: Like I said it was long. I hope it didn't drag, tell me if it did. And tell me if I need to seriously cut down on my chapter length. I personally love long chapters, and feel they should be long like they are in most books, but I am a weirdo so tell me what you think.**

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**Please review, and to all of you who did, I dedicate this chapter to you: CITCAT826, Ozymandyas, hahahehe7, santaclausrules18, st-rach, silentwings3495, xsodapopx7, GreenAwesomeness, pepper66, Fly on Max Ride**

**Thank You! I love you guys!**


	6. Just Wait

**A/N: Okay, here we go, this is another long one. Sorry if you don't like long chapers, I got reviews saying that people did (Thank God). I hope you like this one.**

**Disclaimer: If I actually were James Patterson or Libba Bray, do you really think I would be sitting here writing Fanfiction? No! For gosh sakes I'd be writing a new book or having an interview, not writing fantasy tales of my own creation!**

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**Chapter 6**

I was going to see Fang, just wait. I was going to see my flock, just wait. I was going to be whole, just wait.

Just keep repeating that, just keep repeating that. Angel, Nudge and I were flying—no not literally flying, we still had Felicity and Ann with us, remember?—to the Gypsy camp. I could feel their anticipation from two feet away.

There's that word, anticipation. My worst enemy, I swear it will kill me. I can't wait to see Fang, Iggy and Gazzy again, and the fact that we were so close was murderous. I was going to pounce on them when I saw them. I never thought I'd actually miss being so paranoid for them until I couldn't. It was worse when I didn't know what was going on with them. Just like last time.

So close, so close. Almost there, almost there…

"Max!"

I skidded to a halt about ten feet into the forest, whipping around to face Gemma. They were way behind, and I had to stay there and wait for them to catch up.

I could hear Nudge beside me, "Come on, already. Come on, come on, come _on_."

She was just as tense as I was. I looked over at Angel to see her biting her lip a little. We were definitely not used to being away from each other. I wondered how the boys were doing. Now that I think about it, Iggy probably has Fang describing every girl there. I wonder how many girls have hit on Fang.

I shook my head. I wasn't in the mood to think of another Red-Haired-Wonder incident. Actually, I don't think I'll ever be in the mood.

Gemma had gotten to us by now. She doubled over panting. So did her friends, Felicity seemed to be holding up a little better than the other two, though.

"You know, doubling over doesn't actually help," I said.

"Yeah, it cramps up your lungs so not as much air can get in. You would do a whole lot better if you stood up as tall as you can and put your hand on you hips, actually, if your really out of breath you can put them on your head," Nudge said. I love my knowledgeable children. Who said you need to go to school to know things. We know how to survive, baby.

Gemma put her hand on her hips, as did Felicity. Ann put her hands on her head.

"Great, now can we go, like, soon, because I really want to see Fang, and Iggy, and Gazzy, and this is really hard, just sitting here waiting…so can you hurry it up, not to be mean or anything, I just really want to go," Nudge said. I would have told her off by now for talking so much, but it was something to focus on.

"Oh will you be quiet? Please?" Felicity said. We were not going to get along.

"She can talk all she wants. I don't hear anyone else talking," I said.

"That may be because they are too polite to interrupt," she said smugly.

"I didn't feel like talking, Angel didn't seem to feel a need to interrupt, you guys were too out of breath to even think about talking," I argued. Some people just don't see logic.

"How are you not out of breath, may I ask? We just ran all the way from the entrance of the realms, to the woods. You should be just as tired as we are, how are you not?" she demanded. Feisty little thing she is. I immediately went into shut down mode.

"Why do you need to know?" I asked quietly hinting of a threat.

"Because it does not make sense!" She whisper yelled. I gave a wry grin.

"Sure it does, just not to the ignorant," I said. Then I turned around and marched off into the woods. I heard Angel and Nudge scramble to follow me, and then I heard the others catch up. We were walking—slowly—so we wouldn't lose Gemma, Felicity, and Ann.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Felicity asked 15 minutes later.

"Yes, I do. I have an extremely good sense of direction. Now shush, I need to listen," I said. We were close to the camp now. It wasn't so important that I listen, but I needed some reason to shut her up and I didn't accidentally miss something that I might regret later. I wasn't quite over my paranoia yet.

Then again, maybe I did need to listen.

I heard a slight rustle and froze at the same time as Angel and Nudge. The others stopped right behind us and I heard Felicity give an annoyed sigh. I held up a finger telling her to shut it.

I slowly turned my ear to where the sound came from. About six paces to my right and one backward. I waited for some squirrel to suddenly leap out and scare the living daylights out of Gemma, Felicity and Ann. It didn't.

But it did come suddenly. And I'm pretty sure it did scare the daylights—or more—out of our friends. It startled me even. That may have been because it lunged at me though.

The person who attacked me was in for one heck of a surprise. They rammed right into me pulling back to punch me. I didn't even look at the person, just their fist as I brought my hand up barely pushing it out of the way in time. Get it together, Max.

I grabbed the arm with the fist and threw it to the ground behind me using my hip as a lever. They began to flip over me, but grabbed me around the waist so I went flying with them. Plus they were lighter than a normal human should be so I had overestimated and thrown them too far.

We went rolling through the leaves and I was about to punch them again when their hand wound over mine and the person spoke. Not just spoke, though.

"Max! Stop! It's me!"

I stopped with our hands about five inches away from Iggy's face. Oh, uh…oops.

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect it to be you attacking me," I really was sorry. I just don't do them very well. Except with the younger kids, but that's rare.

Iggy knew what I meant though. He smiled. We disentangled ourselves and got up, and when we were all brushed off, I gave him a hug.

He laughed. "So I have to get in a fight with you to get a hug?" Then he rubbed his forearm behind my back. "On second thought, it's not worth it. Jesus Christ, Max, you almost ripped my arm off."

"I have no apologies, you sent me flying. You were supposed to go flying, _without_ me." I said pulling back.

He just rolled his eyes. I would have punched his shoulder, but Nudge decided it was her turn, so I let her have him. I turned around to see Felicity standing with each fist clenched on either side of her, Gemma had her eyes closed in what looked like relief, and Ann had one hand on her heart and one over her mouth. Angel was just smiling.

I looked back at Iggy to see him hold out an arm for Angel. She ran right into him, just like Nudge had.

"Who is this?" I heard Felicity ground out.

"This," I said, "Is one of our friends we were coming to meet."

"I had figured out that much, _Max_," she said narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that since you asked, I thought I'd answer your question," I said sourly.

"You told me what I already knew, not what I asked," she said haughtily.

"Actually, I did. Just not the part apparently that you wanted to hear, so what did you want to hear," I asked sweetly.

"Max, just drop it. It's not that bad. I'm Iggy," said, you guessed it, Iggy. He came over next to me and looked in her general direction. "Who are you?"

Their jaws hung open as they realized he was blind. I guess we forgot to mention that last night.

"I'm, um, Felicity," she said, then in her personality, decided to be rude, "You are blind, are you not?"

Iggy closed his eyes, we both knew it made no difference, but it was a way of showing his frustration in non-violent ways.

"Yes, I'm blind. Is it that hard to believe I can fight without seeing?" he said reopening his eyes.

"Well in all honesty, yes," she said. I could have killed her. Lucky for her Ann spoke up.

"She's just in a bad mood," she said glancing over at me. I put on a 'Who, me?' face, "She means that you are amazing." Ann blushed slightly.

Iggy smiled widely, "Well, you could've just said that in the first place. I'm not nearly as scary as mean ol' Max here," he said putting his arm around me. I scowled and shoved it off.

"C'mon, Iggy, we don't have all night," I said taking his arm and letting him lead the way.

"You just want to see Fang, don't you?" he snickered.

"Yes, I have to make sure you two haven't mutilated each other without my presence, and I want to see the Gasman," I said pushing him toward camp.

"Yeah, just don't smell him," Iggy muttered. I smiled.

After a few minutes of slow walking, but comfortable catching up we got to the stables.

"Stay here, I'll go get our bundle of joys," Iggy said sarcastically. I shoved his shoulder and he grinned back. Then went to go get our other boys.

I turned around to face the others only to see them looking at me. I felt uncomfortable. Like I was, I don't know, being watched?

"What?" I asked.

They just shrugged, and Felicity and Gemma went back to talking about whatever they were talking about. Angel and Nudge sat down while they waited for the boys to come. Ann kept watching me, though.

I met her eyes and raised my eyebrows. She flushed and started stuttering incoherently. I looked at her a little confused, and she took a deep breath. "Are you…are the two of you…" I didn't get what she was asking. Then I remembered Iggy.

"Oh, no! Oh, God, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no," I said. "He's like my brother, we could never…it just…no," I shuddered at the idea of Iggy and me being a couple. Then shuddered again.

"Oh. I just thought, never mind," she said. I nodded repeatedly. Yes, Ann, leave this area of conversation. Leave, and never return! I think I was vaguely quoting the Lion King in my head.

I heard Angel giggle. I looked at her questioningly and she just nodded. Ah, I knew it was the Lion King.

I went over and sat against the stable keeping watch. It was a habit. I watched Angel and Nudge playing with the horses, and smiled weakly at them. Ann had gone over to talk to Felicity and Gemma. I leaned my head back against the wood closing my eyes. It wasn't peaceful, though, because my boys weren't there.

Not yet. Yet. Anticipation was back in business. Not so slowly growing in the next five minutes.

My head shot up when I heard a sound on the other side of the clearing for the stables. I stood up quietly. I could hear them coming. I was so close to being whole again. So close to seeing Fang, my right hand man. I was practically shaking with excitement.

Angel and Nudge had stopped playing and were waiting just like I was. Gemma, Felicity, and Ann had stopped talking to look at us. I have no idea what we looked like. Probably like a drug addict whose about to get his whiskey. That's what it felt like, anyway. Or so I can imagine, I've never actually been addicted to anything that I know of. And if I don't know what I'm addicted to then who would?

Fang came through first and I was running so fast I could have been flying. I crashed into him awkwardly, a lot like when we had been separated before when I had been in Germany.

"Enthusiastic, are we?" Fang chuckled into my ear.

"I blame the anticipation," I said back.

"So you anticipated me?" he said. I tried to pull back so I could glare at him, but he wouldn't let me.

"Did you?" he asked, holding me tighter.

"So you weren't anticipating me?" I retorted, faking hurt.

"I never said that," he whispered.

"No, you didn't. But you didn't deny it either," I said smugly, finally getting him to let me pull back. I took another step back, just because we were with company and I didn't want people getting the wrong idea.

"Besides, I wanted to talk to someone sane," I would have continued, but Fang was looking at me and he blinked a couple times. "What?" I realized he was looking at my clothes. I looked down. Oh no.

I was still in my dress and my corset. I cocked my hips, putting my hands on them, while simultaneously giving him the death glare. Then I heard Gemma laughing. I shifted my glare to her because she was laughing at us. She went silent, as did everyone else. Out of my peripheral vision I saw Gazzy detach himself from Angel and turn to me. Which turned into gawking at me, with Angel giggling. Even Total was, Akila my friend just looked around with a cocked head.

"Did I miss something?" Iggy said.

"Yeah," breathed the Gasman, "Max is actually wearing a dress and a corset. Nudge and Angel are too, but _Max_ in a..."

"Oh, that's why the fabric felt so rough." Kartik looked at him funny and somehow Iggy knew, "We got in a bit of a fight."

I turned my glare back on Fang, who was still staring. I'm sure only I could see the amusement in his eyes.

"Don't even think about," I said warningly.

He met my eyes, smirking slightly. "Nice clothes." I was shooting daggers out my eyes. I could tell he meant it though. How very Fang, to find a way to be sarcastic and serious at the same time, to say less words.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. He knew I'd gotten the memo, though. I glanced at his clothes; they were a lot like what Kartik had been wearing. I'm pretty sure they were the same, actually. "You too."

I turned to Gazzy and smiled at him. He looked like a regular little Gypsy. We should see if we can keep the clothes for a Halloween costume. Assuming we ever go trick-or-treating.

I smiled at him and he smiled back and I held out my arms for him. His smile turned to fit the evil little maniac who wore it. He ran and leapt on me holding onto my neck. I cautiously put my arms around him waiting for the whole place to blow or something. You know, that's just about what happened.

He farted and I was right next to him.

"Ew! Will you ever stop that?"

"Nice one."

"How utterly revolting."

"And immature."

I clenched my jaw, chagrining. I took away my arms so he was just hanging from my neck. I grabbed his arms and pulled him away. I held him up in the air by his wrists. He grinned sheepishly.

I walked over to Felicity still scowling, who backed up away from me. But my good friend root caused her to slip a little and even though she didn't actually fall, it let me dump Gazzy onto her. I smiled at her and dusted off my hands.

"Fart on her," I told him.

Felicity was staring at me in disgust "You," she began, but apparently couldn't find words. Or she just wasn't trying hard enough.

"Yes, me. Thank you, thank you very much," I said.

Gazzy had rolled onto the grass beside her and she stood up looking at me like she wanted to kill me. All I have to say is she started it. Okay, maybe not this time, but at the very beginning she did.

She took a step toward me as if that would scare me off. As if. I just looked back at her trade-markedly bored. I could practically see her blood boil. I felt the rest of the flock tense up as they got the vibe.

"_You_, are nothing but a stupid, selfish, witch who thinks that she is better than everybody else," she spat.

"Excuse me? Stupid? You couldn't get out of half the things I have. And you think _I'm_ the selfish witch Miss Let Me Take All Of The Magic From My So Called Friends Gemma and Pippa? Right. By the way I don't think I'm better than everyone else," I snarled back.

"That obviously explains your I'm-so-much-better-than-you attitude."

"I said I don't _think_ I'm better than everyone else, I _know_ I'm better than everyone else," I smirked.

She stepped up so our noses were almost touching. I just watched her—despite how cross-eyed it made me. We both knew I'd already won.

"You disgust me," she said under her breath so only I could hear. Assuming the flock had lost their super hearing.

"I disgust a lot of people, for so many different reasons. You're just another one in the lot," I said. Then she blew up.

She shoved me, surprisingly hard for a human. I did actually take a step back, but one step where as a human would have fallen. It's times like this I almost want to thank the scientists. Almost.

The rest of the flock was on full alert. I was seriously forcing myself not to punch this girl. See, I really am nice. She smirked when she realized I wasn't fighting back at all. Then she shoved me again.

Angel came up by my side. I was kind of surprised. I mean sure we stick up for each other, but usually it's me helping them. That might be because they don't know what they're allowed to do, though.

In a second the rest of the flock was too.

"You really want to stop that," Angel said. Not in that little voice I learned to steer clear of, just in a voice tinted with steel that she got from me. "Max might be good at controlling herself, but some of us aren't. Besides, I don't think you want a repeat of what happened before," I saw Felicity's face pale a bit. "You don't know what fire your fueling." The speech would have been freaky enough, but coming from a six-year-old? Definitely rivaling possessed demon child.

"Yeah, and Max is better than you know," Nudge said, "It's not our fault you got on the wrong side of her. Which as I'm sure you already know, is not a fun place to be. Maybe if you hadn't been so cocky with her before than it wouldn't have turned out so bad. But Max is really amazing, seriously. She does more than anyone I know, not that I know many people. She's like, a mom, a sister, and a best friend all rolled up into one. And like Wolverine, 'the best friend you could ever want and the worst enemy you could possibly imagine'. She puts up with a lot too, like my talking."

Bite my tongue, bite my tongue, bite my tongue. _Please hush now, darling, before I rip your head off,_ I thought. I felt Angel tighten her grip on my hand reassuringly. On my right I saw Gazzy give a quick nod. I took a subtle deep breath, returning my attention to Miss Worthington.

"Anything else you'd like to say? No? Good, now go talk to Gemma and Ann, little girl, I have important matters to deal with," I said. She glowered at me, I glowered back and eventually she stormed off to the comfort of her friends. Oh, yeah, who's good.

I smiled and turned around to my flock, who were looking at me patiently. Well, most of them were.

"Can you get along with anyone?" Iggy asked shaking his head, but he was smiling. "This time, I don't blame you, but you have to admit, you get under the skin of way too many people for your own good."

I smiled, "Call it a gift, and"—I fake gasped—"I'm on your side!" We laughed for a bit. It really is mucho fantastico to be back home, the only home I have. You know, what they say, home is where the heart is, and I have five wonderful homes, but I need all of them for the house to be complete.

Now, let's snap out of little dream land of happiness. "Okay, seriously guys, we have to talk, or at least Fang and I have to." I brought my eyes back to Fang. "Today was the last day before Easter holiday, we need to work out where us girls are going."

"Could you stay here?" Fang asked. The younger kids had already decided this was going to be boring and abandoned us to go play. Iggy stood listening, though.

"Here as in the school? Or, here as in the camp?"

"The camp," he said, then thought for a bit, "or the school."

I could tell he preferred the camp, and to be honest I did too. But staying at the school was smarter.

"You could come with us."

All three of us whipped our heads around to see Gemma jump slightly. I smiled slightly, these girls jump so easily.

"No," Fang said.

"Why not?" Gemma continued.

"We don't like being split up in case you couldn't already tell. How long is Easter break? More than three days? I don't think so," I said crossing my arms.

"But even you must admit that it makes much more sense for you to come with me. Strange things happen even when we aren't at school. You need to come with me to help me figure out some of what's going on," Gemma argued. She was right; I knew it, however much it sucked.

I looked at Fang; he was thinking exactly what I was. Iggy had his eyebrows pulled together. I looked back at Gemma who was staring at the two of us almost like she was begging.

"Could the boys come too?" I asked.

She shook her head sadly. "No, I don't have enough room in my house for all six of you, actually, I'm fairly sure I would only be able to have you, Max," she said apologetically.

"No, silly Gemma, I don't mean in your house. At least, not living there, I meant outside it. Could they come and live in, a field, some woods, a lake house no one's using," I said smiling. I thought for a second. "If the girls couldn't stay with you then they could live with the boys out in the-whatever."

Gemma looked horrified. "You mean to tell me, you would gladly send your family out into the woods to live there, even though you would be living in a nice house with a bed, just so you could be near them."

"She wouldn't send us if we didn't want to go," Iggy said, "We want to be with Max, you can ask the younger kids too. They'd rather be close to Max than anything else. She's our leader. We stick together."

"You want to go live out in the middle of no where, on a pile of leaves filled with goodness knows what, with no food?" Gemma asked looking more shocked than I was when I found out the director of the company that wanted to retire my family and I, was not only a woman, but also my mother. Until someone came and told me the truth. Thank God.

Fang and I looked at each other—Iggy too sort of—and I saw the corners of Fang's mouth rise a little. That sent me over the edge and Iggy and I just burst out laughing. Poor Gemma didn't know what was going on. I finally stopped and gulped in air. I looked at Gemma, who was looking a little worried. So was Kartik who had shown up beside her.

"Sorry, not you fault, you didn't know," I said still laughing. "Okay, you see, for the past four years, that's all my family has been doing. We camp out wherever we can. We go dumpster diving for food, and every once in a while, get lucky and come across some money to actually buy food. We are the master pickpockets. And we've slept everywhere from the subway tunnels of New York, to a random meadow, barn, or clump of trees. We sleep _in_ trees for gosh sakes." Gemma looked absolutely horrified. Kartik just looked surprised. After a while her expression cleared.

"I guess it would make sense then for you to come," she said to Fang and Iggy smiling. "Just like it makes sense you sleep in trees," I was waiting for that "We might be able to sneak out some food for you at night."

"You wouldn't sneak out nearly enough," I said, "We need three thousand calories a day, minimum."

"Then I'm sure we'll work something out," Gemma said stubbornly.

Okay, I was still getting used to the whole idea of trust people and maybe they'll be nice to you. And I had just met someone who was going to willingly give up their food for people they barely know. Maybe this is why some people in the world still have hope.

"If you insist," I said.

"I do," she said firmly. "You can come on the train with me, and the boys can catch another train, or a cab."

"That won't be necessary," I said "They can just…keep pace with the train."

She looked confused for a moment, until she remembered that we weren't exactly human.

"How fast can you…" She trailed off.

"Fast enough," I said, "How fast does the train go?"

"About 60 miles per hour, maybe 70?" Gemma said.

I glanced at Fang and Iggy. "Piece of cake," I said watching Gemma and Kartik's eyebrows rise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really," I said.

"Did someone say cake?" the Gasman said coming up to us.

"Mmm, I could so go for some cake right now. Do you think we could make a cake? Maybe when we're at Gemma's house. Is that where we're going? I heard you guys talking about that. Maybe we could try to teach Max some cooking skills. She can make chocolate chip cookies though. I guess that sort of proves that she can be taught. Hey, that sounds like the Genie from Aladdin. 'He can be taught!' only, Max isn't a guy…" Nudge kept talking and I stopped listening.

"How does she do that?" Gemma asked curiously.

"I don't know," I said. "We just blame the scientists."

"Ah," she said.

I turned back to Fang, "So you can wait outside the station and fly by the train. Easy as pie."

"Easy as pi?" Iggy said, "Well, gee Max, I just don't know…"

"I meant pie with an e on it, dumbo," I said.

"I do not have big ears!"

"How can you tell, you're blind!" I laughed.

"I can still feel, thank you," he said and raised his nose like one of those fancy rich people.

"Yeah, but you can hear so much better than all of us, so you _must_ have big ears," I said triumphantly.

"If I have big ears then you must not have any sense of smell to tell when something's burning," he argued.

"Oh, shut up and go built a fire to burn yourself on."

"How about a bomb?"

"_No_, I said a fire."

"A bomb makes a fire."

"A really big one."

"You didn't say it had to be small."

We just glared at each other.

"If you say one more thing, I'm going to cook a lot more meals, make you taste it, have the flock eat it, and then let them beat you up for getting me mad," I said.

"I hate you."

"Right back acha."

Iggy glared at me a bit longer then left to most likely plot revenge against me with Gazzy.

I smiled at turned back, once again, to Fang who seemed highly amused by our dispute. I raised my eyebrows at him with an innocent expression asking 'what'.

"You cook?" he asked. "We'd die before we could kill him."

"Shut up," I complained.

Then I remembered Gemma was standing right next to us. She was watching us almost longingly. Kartik had the same reaction as Fang, just much more visible.

"What?" I asked.

She snapped out of it. "Oh, it's just, you…your family. You get along so much better than most, at least my family. My brother and I despise each other. He is petty and shallow minded, who likes girls of the same type as him. I, in my opinion, am not shallow, or as agreeable. We simply do not understand each other." She looked pointedly at me, "It began mostly when…" When her mom died. Ouch. I saw Kartik look away.

"Oh," I said. I could feel Fang's confusion. I gave a look that said we'd talk later. He gave a tiny nod.

"Oh, Gemma darling," Felicity called coming over to us. "I don't know about you, but I am simply exhausted. I do believe Max has had enough time with her friends. Besides, it can't be too long until dawn."

Fang and I looked east, she was right. It was getting lighter by the moment,not that anyone else could tell. Fang and I looked back at each other again. Time to be cut in half once again. I could tell he felt the same way as me.

"So, tomorrow you wait outside the train station and I'll send Angela and Marylyn to go meet you," I said using their fake names so he'd know them and so Felicity and Ann wouldn't know any better, and he nodded in response. I smiled and held out my fist. His eyes met mine head on as he stacked his on top of mine.

"Oy! Chilens! Let's go, hand stack," I shouted to the flock. And they came running like the good little kids they are. Iggy put his fist on Fang's, then Nudge, then Gaz, then Angel. I tapped all of their hands and they followed in the same order we stacked our fists.

I gave them one last smile and then us girls were off.

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**A/N: Could you guys do me a huge favor? Tell me if the characters are actually in character. Especially those people who have read A Great and Terrible Beauty. I could really use it for Maximum Ride too. I think that they are in character, but this is my view of them, so what do you guys think.**

**Please review and tell me! Or just review anyway!**

**By the way, if you haven't read A Great and Terrible Beauty series, I can give you a summary of it, just PM me.**

**This chapter is dedicated to those who reviewed last time: I Have A SPORK!, pepper66, xsodapopx7, GreenAwesomeness, Soccerchick9417, redfeatherz, hahahehe7, and MaxRide101. Thanks guys!**

**(I have temporarally switched this to A Great and Terrible Beauty, usually this is in Maximum Ride, please go and check up on it, or put it on alert so you can know when I post even though you don't check Maximum Ride.)**


	7. No Reason At All

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long, it's been kinda hard for me to write lately. This is a bit of a filler chapter, but it has some important things in it. This chapter also isn't quite as long as the last two.**

**Everyone-If you have no reply here, please don't be mad, I should have already replied to you. This for the people who I never replied to or are anonymous. Thanks to those of you who did review.**

**xsodapopx7-I will get to your summary, I promise. I had it mostly typed up and then I hit a button and my computer erased it. Please don't hate me! By the way, would you prefer a summary still, or would it be okay if I explained it along the way? If you want I will do both! Sorry, and thank you!**

**I Have A SPORK!-I'm really glad that you like my story, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. No joke, actually. Thank you for answering my question about the characters. And I'm really happy that somebody noticed Iggy was off character. I always thought that he should be a bit more involved, but that it's still mostly Max and Fang. So if he's not in the important conversations, it'll either be because he doesn't know or that he's busy doing something important. And thank you for liking Iggy this way. By the way, the reason the girls just accepted it is because only Gemma could hear her. Felicity was trying to ignore Max and Ann was following her lead. They were off having their own conversation. Gemma and Kartik already knew how weird Max was so they just lumped it in with that. Thank you also for the long review, I like it when people leave long reviews because I only leave really long reviews if I especially like the story.**

**RachieRawr-I'm glad you like the little reminders. I know Kartik is a little off, and I hope to get him more into character later when I do other POV's. There wasn't really much he could say, and I think he would have been mostly quiet or just talking to Gemma, hense we wouldn't have heard him. Thank you for the review.**

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**Chapter 7**

**Max POV**

"You know, it is truly irritating that Max kept us up so late. If she had been kind enough to let us go to bed when we wished, we wouldn't be so dreadfully tired," Felicity said just quietly enough so anyone who would get her trouble wouldn't hear.

"You would have been up late anyway and you know it," I whispered back. I swear, if this girl does not quit whining I will blow cover and kill her. "And I thought we were taking a train." I looked pointedly at Gemma.

"Well, I had taken a train then a carriage when I first arrived here. I figured if we happened to ride a train it would be best to know if they could keep up," Gemma said. Yep, she was making excuses.

We were calmly—yeah, right—waiting for the apparently not train, but carriages to come take us away. Let me tell you, if it's anything like a plane, I'm going to have a heart attack. Small, confined, squished, boring, need I go on? I was just waiting for the carriage to be loaded up so I could send Angel and Nudge to Fang who better be hiding in those bushes right now.

I looked over to the fantastically not green plant life as Felicity was giving me some reply to my earlier retort that I was ignoring. Either, Fang, Iggy, and the Gasman aren't there, or I taught them some seriously awesome hiding skills. I was leaning toward the latter.

"One of our men went missing last night," someone said. My focus shot to them, it's the boss of the construction talking to Mrs. Nightwing. "Young Tambley."

"Mr. Miller, how is it that I may keep watch over scores of schoolgirls yet you cannot keep watch over grown men?" Point for Mrs. Nightwing! And females!

Brigid looked up from behind a carriage where she's yapping to the footman about tying up cases properly, and he doesn't seem to appreciate it. "Whiskey! Devil whiskey!" she said to them, giving a confident nod.

Mrs. Nightwing sighed, I'd be annoyed to, "Brigid, if you please."

I looked back to see Mr. Miller shaking his head firmly. "It weren't whiskey, m'um. Tambley was on watch in the woods and up by the old graveyard, where we'd 'eard noises. Now 'e's gone." Mr. Miller said grinding his teeth. "It's them Gypsies, I tell ya."

_Whaaaaat_? Why didn't we hear anything? Iggy would have heard something, right? Or were we the noises and it just happened he disappeared that night. Why would he leave work? Did he despise his job that much? I wish more whitecoats would just disappear. Or was he killed, kidnapped, those things still happened back here, didn't they? Of course they did, I'm freaking over nothing. On the other hand, that's why I'm alive today.

"And the reason you were behind on the East Wing was the rain, as I recall. There is always some blame, some excuse." Mrs. Nightwing sniffed. "I'm sure your Mr. Tambley will show up. He is young, as you said, and the young tend to be rebellious."

"You might be right m'um, but it ain't like Tambley not to show," Mr. Miller said back, annoyed.

"Have faith, Mr. Miller. I'm sure he'll return," Mrs. Nightwing said and ended the conversation. Well, that was interesting.

"Max, do you pay any attention to anything of importance around you?"

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked, deliberately making Felicity unimportant. Not that it was that hard to do. Felicity had dressed herself up so she looked more like she was going to see the queen. Gemma and I were in travel dresses (and the corsets were still there) all of which belonged to Gemma.

"Your carriage is ready miss," the footman said and I guess he was addressing all of us. He turned around and I sent Angel and Nudge off. They scurried and ran, avoiding everyone's eyes. That a girls. I had made sure they had a pair of regular clothes with them. We wouldn't want them show their bloomers of to the boys. As a proper English girl would say, 'How vulgar'.

But they would say it's vulgar for us to be without corsets around boys, so I guess I'm doomed the moment these people find out about my horrid sins of sleeping within five feet of males.

Gemma and Felicity each gave Ann a good-bye hug, and we stepped into the carriage.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

I turned around to see the footman. "Why, yes, what is it?"

"Didn't you have two younger girls with you?" he asked.

"Yes, their not coming. Mother said it would be best if I would go first to a new environment, for safety purposes. You know how mothers get, is your mother like that?" I really hoped mothers actually were over protective.

To my surprise, he laughed. Well, at least I said something right, or really, really wrong. "Oh, yes, she is. I'd go out and if I stayed past dark, she'd 'ave 'erself a heart attack. Quite funny, actually. When she quit yellin'. But that's why I got this job. I get to get out a bit more. See more of the world, minus the curfew."

I laughed with him, and after I got in the carriage, he closed the door. Making me feel slightly claustrophobic, but there were only the three of us, so it wasn't too bad, and bonus—window seat. Even though we all had window seats.

Gemma sat in front of me, Felicity beside her. I leaned my head on the door and looked out the window. Felicity and Gemma looked out the windows, too, but in the opposite direction since they were facing me.

A little while away, where we could still see Spence, I saw Gemma's eyes widen. She gasped and then fainted. Yes, I did say _faint_. What kind of girl freaking faints? I'll tell you who, Gemma.

"Gemma!" Felicity called, and we were both down with her in an instant. "Gemma…" she said and we waited. "Gemma! What's the matter?" To _my_ surprise at least, I could hear the worry in her voice. "Gemma, you fainted!"

I watched as Gemma sucked in air. "The gargoyle," she gasped. "It came alive."

We all jump up to find it's raining now, which sucks for my flock and no moving gargoyles. I watch it for a while taking in it's every detail with my hawk eyes. Nothing, stone.

"Ow."

I sit back in the carriage and see Gemma rubbing her eye, apparently a raindrop fell in it. She wiped the rain off her entire face and looked back to us, who were still watching her cautiously. "Did I really faint?"

Felicity nods and worry is creased across her forehead, I guess she does feel. "Gemma," she said calmly. "The gargoyles are made of stone. Whatever you saw was some hallucination. There's nothing there, I promise you. Nothing."

"Nothing," Gemma repeated. She looked back over the grounds, and I can see her hands shaking in her lap. Saying nothing, Felicity reached over and covered Gemma's hands with hers. I guess that's why they keep her around. She's like a dog, loyal.

We calmed down, and I looked back out the window. Only now I was actually looking for something, and I found it almost immediately. My family, my flock, flying in perfect formation.

They were flying high enough that anyone with the eyesight of a human would think they were birds, but I could see them. I bet Fang did that on purpose. Fang was in the lead, where I usually am, and I _so_ wished I was up there with them in the open air, instead of stuck in this place. Iggy and Nudge were behind Fang, Angel behind Nudge, and the Gasman behind Iggy.

"What are you looking at?" Felicity asked sharply.

I kept watching them. "Birds. Really big, beautiful birds," I said. She and Gemma leaned out the window to see them. Gemma glanced at me, then back at the sky. When she realized who they were her jaw dropped.

"What is it, Gemma?" Felicity asked.

"It's just, Max is right. They're beautiful. They look like the essence of poetry," Gemma replied and I smiled with pride.

"Sure their gorgeous, everything looks amazing flying, because we are not up there, and we do not know how it's done," Felicity said, sitting back in her seat.

Gemma and I kept watching though, and when they dipped down dangerously close I knew Angel was listening in on us, because I saw all of them look down at once and wave. I was still the only one who could see it, but someone might think these 'birds' had an extra limb.

I put my hand on the window where they could see it and thought, _Gemma says you look like the essence of poetry._

I saw Angel laugh, and they others gave her weird looks. She told them what I said and I watched Iggy spin in the air.

_Iggy says this is nothing, and Fang and I think she's never seen a hawk fly._ Angel thought back.

_She might not, but you do look beautiful, this coming from someone with flying experience _and_ who's watched hawks._ Angel smiled and they soared up out of her range.

--

Okay, I cave, I was mortified. I was standing in front of Gemma's mansion, absolutely petrified. I would be nervous if I was meeting the family I was going to be spending a week with, but this is a proper English family with _money_. And I have no flock!

I took a deep breath.

A servant answered the door, and, seeing Gemma, let us in. She took our boots, which were covered in mud from the rain. Yet _another_ reason flying rules. I also noticed Gemma had a hole in the toe of her 'stocking' as she called it.

After we had been walking around the house for all of three seconds, some old lady came out and, seeing our drenched clothes, said, "Good heavens! What on earth?"

"Spring in London," Gemma replied, putting some hair behind her ear.

The lady pressed her lips together. "Hm. Gemma, who is this?"

"This is Miss Maxine Ride, from America, I was dearly hoping she could stay with us as she has not had the chance to make many friends yet," Gemma said. She wasn't half bad a making up an excuse. Not a bad trait if I do say so myself.

"Well, Maxine-"

"Oh, please call me Max," I said, playing Miss sweet little innocent that Maxine Ride happened to be. "I want you to feel as comfortable as possible around me." It was true, I didn't need her _trying_ to find something wrong with me.

"As you wish…Max. Then you may just call me Grandma, likewise of Gemma. Speaking of which, I do need to talk to my granddaughter for a moment, if you could just wait here, that would be most agreeable," Grandma lady said.

"But of course," I answered sweetly. Grandma smiled at my cooperativeness and left pulling Gemma into the parlor.

I had already taken in most of the escape routes and such, so now I took in decorations, furnishings, you know, the first things normal people look for. It was actually really interesting, for about 7 seconds. I took a deep breath—not easy in a corset—and listened instead.

Let's see, servants, various unknowns that creep me out, and…Gemma and Grandma.

I could hear Grandma saying, "…fond of it."

A couple of seconds later Gemma said, "There is a goat-man dancing a jig." You know, there are some conversations that just aren't good to barge in on.

"He represents nature." Are you seeing what I'm seeing? In your head are you picturing what I am? Yeah, that fawn or whatever from Narnia?

"He's wearing pantaloons." Okay, nice picture just went down the toilet. What the heck are pantaloons anyway? Not just vaguely, seriously, do you even know?

"Really, Gemma, I did not pull you aside to discuss art, of which it apparent you know little. I whished to discuss you father." I though we were talking about a picture.

In case your wondering, her father became highly depressed—this includes extreme drinking and not talking much, not telling stories anymore, going to clubs—after her mom's death. That was one of the little things I had left out, I'll pick them up along the way to make sure you don't get lost. Well, _too_ lost.

"How is he?" I could tell Gemma had completely forgotten the painting.

"Delicate," Who describes someone as delicate? "This is to be a peaceful trip. I'll have no outbursts, none of your peculiar habits, nothing to upset him. Do you understand?" I smiled, Gemma's peculiar habits, if Grandma only knew.

Grandma and Gemma come back and Gemma takes me to the guest room, my new home. Oh, goody. It's really fancy, and everything is perfect, nothing like my actual life. This room—house actually—could so use some anarchy. Or at least show what chaos it has. Gemma also gave me about five new corsets and dresses. And shoes. And bloomers. Apparently girls aren't allowed to show their ankles at all. _At all._

Gemma and I both change into cleaner dresses. So, this is what rich people do. Gemma took me to the drawing room.

"Ah, here is our Gemma now," Grandma said.

An aging man got up from the chair he was in by the fireplace and said, "Dear me, could this beautiful and elegant young lady be my daughter?" He seemed a bit weak, like one of the sparks I put out for Iggy's bombs.

"Welcome home, Father," Gemma said politely.

The man, who I presume is Gemma's dad, gives Gemma a weak hug. He looks as healthy as the flock and I.

"You look more like her everyday," Her dad said and I'm just going to assume that he's talking about Gemma's mom. He turns his gaze to me. "And who might this lovely young lady be." Somebody actually called me a '_lovely young lady'_…wow.

I held out my hand with a smile. "My name is Maxine Ride, sir. From America."

He smiles. "Ah, what state do you come from?" Erm…home?

"Colorado," I said.

"And where exactly is that in the United States of America?"

"It's one of the square ones in the middle," I said, still smiling. I really am trying with this whole formal thing.

He laughed, but it was one of those laughs that instead of making you want to laugh, is just plain creepy. There was no actual humor in it. Resisting the urge to shiver, I sat down in the seat he had invited me to. I was beside Gemma and some male entity that I was going to assume is Gemma's brother, Tom.

He seemed okay so far. Tom smiled and nodded his head, which I copied. Grandma did the same.

Dinner involved being served, saying thank-you a lot, and conversation that I don't have a clue what they're talking about. Such as Tom being invited to the Hippocrates Society in Chelsea this weekend.

About halfway through dinner, right after the atmosphere had turned really grim, it changed. I don't just mean someone said something funny and everyone laughed a little, oh, no. I mean, the sort of change that happens when Angel controls peoples' minds.

Grandma went from dismal to cheery. Gemma's father went from depressing to telling a story about a tiger—he's a good story teller, too, the switch was just a bit creepy. Tom had been sulking and became animated, and then there was Gemma.

Gemma didn't have any immediate change, or I didn't notice she did, until I saw a tear run down her face. I'll be talking to her about this later.

"Gemma?" Grandma said, "My dear, what on earth is the matter? Why are you crying?"

Gemma looked up and smiled, looking seriously happy, despite the tear marks on her face, and said, "No reason at all."

Right.

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**A/N: Like I said, this was sort of a filler chapter, I hope you liked it anyway. Please review! It really does encourage me to update faster! All you have to put if you want is 'Hey, I like your story' or 'Hey, you suck' or even just 'Hey'.**

**This chapter is dedicated to: hahahehe7, pepper66, santaclausrules18, soccerchick9417, LuckySox, GreenAwesomeness, xsodapopx7, QuickStar, I Have A SPORK!, and RachieRawr. Thank you so much, and review again, I like putting your names up!**

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